Clay statuette from S. I. Sergeev's excavations in Gnezdovo

The study of the Gnezdovo necropolis has been going on for more than one hundred and fifty years – numerous archaeological materials have been accumulated that need to be published at the modern scientific level. In 1898, S. I. Sergeev excavated a barrow in Gnezdovo, dating back to the tenth century. An anthropomorphic clay figurine was found as part of the burial inventory. The nature of the clay figurine's deformations indicates that it was placed in the funeral pyre while still wet and had already undergone a partial firing procedure there. This allows us to speak of the figurine as a ritual object purposefully made for burial. The ritual purpose of the Gnezdovo statuette brings it closer to the clay paws and rings found in the burial grounds of the Yaroslavl Volga region – these objects, according to most researchers, were also made directly for use in the funeral rite. The statuette from Gnezdovo complements and complicates the previously established picture of the existence of a funerary tradition on the ancient Russian territory, which consisted of placing figures made of unbaked clay in the burial.