Ritual Pillars (serge) of the Yakuts: the History of Study in the XIX-XXI Centuries.

Sleptsova Aitalina Alekseevna ORCID: 0000-0002-8774-2570 Junior Scientific Associate, Institute for Humanities Research and Problems of Indigenous Peoples of the North of the Yakut Scientiific Center of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 677901, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1, office 410 aytalina92s@gmail.com

Ritual pillars (serge) are one of the most common monuments of the material culture of the Yakuts. The existence of which is found in the culture of such peoples as: Yakuts, Buryats, Tuvans, Khakas, Altaians, etc. Serge occupy a significant place not only in the material, but also in the spiritual culture of the people, being a kind of center of the cosmological view of the world.

In the history of the study of serge, several periods of study can be distinguished, in which the activity of their study took place to varying degrees.

The first period of the study of Yakut hitching posts falls on the XIX – early XX centuries. The studies conducted during this period, which did not have a purposeful nature, made a great contribution to the accumulation of sources and data for their further study.

Second period – 1920 – 1990- s., associated with the Soviet period. This period is characterized by an active, purposeful study of the ritual pillars of serge. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, there is an active growth of research interest in the Yakut hitching posts. The first attempts are being made to systematize the accumulated data, as well as their theorization. Since the second half of the XX century, the intensive accumulation of the source base continues, the research of cult objects becomes more in-depth, detailed.

The third period – the 1990s - XXI century., includes the modern stage of research. This period is characterized by purposeful studies of the pillars of the Yakutia serge, in various aspects. The functions, meaning and images of serge pillars in the Yakut culture have been studied in more depth.

The early stage of the study of the Yakut pillars of Serge covers the chronological range from the XIX to the first quarter of the XX century . Some references to the pillars of serge are found in the writings of a number of researchers and travelers who visited Yakutia.  Since the end of the XIX century, a broader study of the Yakut pillars begins. N.S. Shchukin in his work "Trip to Yakutsk" mentions three pillars with a crossbar decorated with young birches, under which huge leather bags with kumys were placed. These pillars were installed in front of the yurt of the organizer of Ysyakh and they were intended only for men, and for women they were installed separately ^{[1, p. 284-285]}. A similar mention is found in the work "Black Faith or Shamanism among the Mongols" by D. Banzarov, who described the spring festival. According to his notes, the Mongols tied mares to a rope stretched between two poles. It is also important that they mention holding such celebrations not only in spring, but also in autumn ^{[2, pp. 38-39]}.

V.L. Seroshevsky wrote in more detail about the Yakut serge in chapter IV of his work "Yakuts". He characterizes serge as a sacred structure not only of the Yakut housing complex, with which the happiness of the house is connected, but also of the surrounding space, where there is a serge installation with a pommel in the form of horse heads on the graves of princes and leaders ^{[3, p. 252]}. He also described the ceremony of conducting the goddess Ayyyhyt. A shallow pit was dug in the earthen floor of the yurt, a small model of a birch bark urasa was placed near it, and a hitching post was also installed, to which a birch bark image of a horse was tied if a boy was born, or a mare if a girl was born. Birch bark images of game animals were placed around the hitching post ^{[3, p. 674]}. In the third part of the work "Vilyuysky district", R.K. Maak in the chapter "Housing and home environment of the population of the Vilyuysky district" notes that the serge hitching posts are a common construction of the Yakut yard, to which the horse was tied not only by the owners, but also by the guests ^{[4, p. 43]}. In addition, the author emphasizes that serge was also used during the wedding ceremony, to which the daughter-in-law, coming to the groom's house, tied a sacrificial horse ^{[4, p. 102]}.

The works of V.F. Troshchansky are also not without interest, in one of which he described a birthing ceremony in which a mock-up of the Yakut yard was used with a birch bark urass, a hitching post and a birch bark horse tied to it with a saddle in the excavated earthen floor of the yurt on the third day by young women who wanted children. If a boy is born, in addition to the layout, put figures of animals hunted by Yakuts, made of birch bark, prepare a tiny bow and arrow. And if a girl is born, instead of animals and onions, I put birch bark scissors, a needle and a thimble with real threads from dried cow veins. Then they throw all the figures on the coals and the one to whom the stream of smoke reaches will give birth in the same year ^{[5, pp. 44-45]}.

It is interesting to mention the serge hitching posts in the riddles of the northern Yakuts, which were collected by I.A. Khudyakov. For example, "on the shins of Mr. man (toen kisi) there is a sinus odor (hitching dogs get dirty)"; "they say Mr. man is standing (Hitching post))"; "Mr. man with a cane on the crown (Snow on the top of the hitching post)"; "they say there is a host in the house; in the yard a shepherd (a table and a hitching post)"; "There is a guard in the yard, a shepherd in the house (a hitching post and a pole (in a yurt supporting the ceiling))" ^{[6, p. 30]}. In these riddles, the parallels drawn between the human host and the hitching post are interesting, as well as his roles in the form of a defender (guard) and a shepherd.

Later, N. Tolokonsky collected Yakut proverbs, riddles, divination, rituals, beliefs and legends, where there are also mentions of serge pillars. In the submitted materials, serge is mentioned as a post for tying a horse: "There is a guard for those who come and go. (The post to which the horse is tied)" ^{[7, p. 38]}. In addition, there is a special attitude to the ritual pillars of serge: "Beloved by God, warmed by the sun, revered by the king (Incense, hitching post, table)" ^{[7, p. 46]}. Describing the wedding ceremony, N. Tolokonsky writes that the horse with the bride, who arrived at the groom's house, is led around the hitching post along the course of the sun three circles ^{[7, p. 59]}. The fact of using serge pillars in divination is very interesting – "riding on a hitching post". To perform which it was necessary to leave the yurt at night, having tied two awls on the heels in advance, as spurs, walk backwards to the hitching post and also hugging it with both hands, pricking with spurs, to ask to tell fate. After that, the hitching post begins to beat as if a person as a rider was riding on a hitching post. And if a person can stand and withstand this action, then the hitching post told him about the future. The author notes that basically only men decided on this method, and women, in turn, did not dare to do it. Another way of divination with the help of the serge pillar helped to find out whether a person would be rich or not. So, N. Tolokonsky writes that in the evening, snow was sifted through a sieve around the hitching post, and the next morning miniature traces of horse and cattle turned out to be on it, this means that the one who sifted this snow will be rich ^{[7, pp. 67-69]}. In fairy tales, he often appears in the prototype of a mighty large tree with a large number of branches, or as a companion of the hero, defender of the house. For example, in the fairy tale "Basymnilan-batyr" there is also a mention of a hitching post, but already in the image of a tree. A tree with eight complex branches sprouted through the sky and became a silver hitching post for the "white Milk White Lord God", who had a "ysyakhny stake" of a yellow horse, a high pole of a pure white horse, a hitching post of a gray horse ^{[6, pp. 171-172]}. In addition, there are a lot of mentions of serge hitching posts in fairy tales, where the wedding procession is described. For example, in the fairy tale "A short old woman with five cows (bes ynakhtah byaybarikan emyakhsin)" ^{[6, pp. 59-65]}. In the fairy tales "Beresh-Hara" and "Khan-Jargystai" there are three gentlemen serge, where the main serge was gold, the middle one with black silver, the third one was just silver ^{[6, p. 71; 6, p. 109]}.

Similar images can be found in Olonkho. S.V. Yastremsky, considering their plots, mentions a divine tree that reaches "monstrous" sizes. This tree reaches the sky, the branches of which become the hitching post of Urun Ayyy Toyon itself, and the roots of the tree reach the underworld, where they become "a hanger for dishes with cream for cattle deities." The author also notes that games and meetings of deities take place near this tree, where there is divine moisture around, a milk lake. And at this tree, the tired, exhausted and sick strengthen their strength ^{[8, p. 130]}.

A.E. Kulakovsky, who provided assistance and took a direct part in collecting material for N. Tolokonsky's work, supplements them with new data. So, in the signs described by them, there is the use of serge pillars. For example, if a cat started scratching him, then a traveler on a horse will appear after ^{[9, p. 78]}. Reporting in his writings about Doidu ichchite, A.E. Kulakovsky also mentions a hitching post, in the image of the Aar Kuduk Mas tree, in which doidu ichchite "Aan Alakhchyn Khatyn" lives. The main of the eight branches of this mighty tree, having passed through the heavens, thought that if it became a hitching post for Urung Aar Toyon, he would not like it, so it sprouted back, and the roots of this tree reached the dwelling of Arsan Duolaya, was afraid that the inhabitants of the dark world would harm him, so he arched up and appeared on the surface of the earth, i.e. in the middle world ^{[9, p. 42]}. The special attitude of the Yakuts of serge is confirmed in the notes of V.P. Nogin, who in 1912 was sent into exile to the Yakut region, to the Aby area of the Verkhoyansky district. Describing the arrangement of the yard of the Verkhoyansk Yakuts, he indicates the presence of hitching posts, the number of which could be more than one. An important remark was made by him about the fact that the Yakuts and some Russians treated the serge hitching posts with special respect ^{[10, p. 57]}.

A review of the literature of the XIX – early XX centuries allows us to conclude that serge occupied an important place not only in material culture as an architectural structure, but also in spiritual culture, acting in various images. So, many researchers assume that serge is the prototype of the World Tree, which has come down to us thanks to Yakut folklore. In many riddles, omens, fairy tales, as well as in the epic Olonkho serge acts as a multi-branched, golden or silver tree connecting three worlds, on the tops of whose branches gods lived, at the trunk, that is, in the middle world, people themselves lived, and evil spirits lived in the lower one. In addition, it is worth noting that serge, as a prototype of the World Tree, is reflected in some shamanic rituals that have come down to us. This is explained by the fact that in shamanism the World Tree plays a special role, being an indispensable attribute of the shamanic picture of the world and its cult, which served for shamans as a sacred road, a bridge to deities and spirits.

The historical and ethnographic study of the ritual pillars of Serge began in the second half of the twentieth century. During this period, the expedition fees of the KJAR of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Yaroslavsky YAGOMIKNS begin. Therefore, the Soviet period can rightfully be considered the beginning of the historical and ethnographic study of the ritual pillars of serge. During this period, knowledge about ritual pillars became wider, thanks to the works of many Soviet researchers.

P.A. Sleptsov, exploring the traditional family and ritual of the Yakuts in his works, also mentions the use of serge hitching posts at a wedding. The traditional component of the wedding was the custom of lining the place of the celebration with green grass, decoration with young birches (chechir), as well as the establishment of a ritual pillar of serge (uruu serge), fire feeding, ritual drinking of koumiss and the last blessing of the young ^{[11, pp. 31-35]}.

S.I. Bolo, describing the area of the Ysyakh, indicated that it consisted of 3, 5 or 7 hitching posts, around which young birch trees were stuck into the ground. After that, a rope was tied, into which bunches of horse hair were woven ^[12].

Folklorist A.A. Savvin, also describing the Ysyakh holiday, organized on May 5, 1941. In the Olbut nasleg of the Aby district, mentions serge. The area of the celebration of Ysyakh was decorated with ornamented serge: thin-branched birches were planted around the Aar bagah serge, and a white foal was tied to the main serge [Archive of the YANGTS SB RAS. F. 4, Op. 12, ed. kr. 20, ll. 4-10].

By the end of the XX century, many works devoted to the serge themselves began to be published. They were studied by researchers such as F.M. Zykov, where he already gives complete data on the origin of serge, their types, functions and sizes ^{[13, 14]}.

L.G. Lelchuk in his article, the author describes the Yakut and Buryat serge of the 2nd half of the XX century, comparing them with the serge of other peoples, such as Tuvans, Khakas, Altaians, etc. ^{[15, pp. 225-228]}

S.S. Sorokin notes in his writings that the study of serge can give new valuable information about the problem of the ethnic history of the Yakuts, Buryats and other Turkic-Mongolian peoples adjacent to these peoples. He notes that serge was installed not only at dwellings, but also near burials, where they could carry various purposes. For example, according to the observations of the South Altai expedition of 1961 in the Kurtu tract, installed next to the burial of Serge, had a similar finish, with a grave fence. The author comes to the conclusion that the serge was installed near the burials not only to tie the horse, but also, it is quite possible that they could play the role of a marker, a sign referring the buried to a certain family, clan or tribe ^[16-18].

Among researchers, there is another version of the origin of the ritual pillars of serge, where serge acts as a prototype of a person. Thus, S.I. Rudenko suggests that the Scythian balbals are nothing more than the pillars of serge, denoting the deceased themselves or their relatives ^[19]. V.D. Kubarev and S.S. Sorokin agree with S.I. Rudenko's assumption, explaining this by the fact that many peoples sought to reproduce the deceased's dwelling during burial structures, constructing balbals at the graves ^{[20, 16]}. F.M. Zykov also agreed with this opinion, who wrote that serge used to depict a person, but over time, as a result of transformation, they lost the detail of the head and body, retaining only a conditional separation. This can be confirmed by the fact that the Yakuts and Buryats do not cut the serge, since they believe that the serge should stand until it itself falls from dilapidation, like human life ^[13-14]. In this regard, the opinion of T.M. Mikhailov is interesting, who considered the hitching posts themselves to be primary, which have already gained their sacredness over time, becoming sacred to the peoples. The veneration of which he explains by the sacralization of the image of the horse among the Turkic-Mongolian peoples, and their origin with the beginning of cattle breeding ^[21].

In Soviet historiography, S.V. Ivanov was the first to derive the classification of Yakut serge in the 70s of the twentieth century in his work "Yakut hitching posts". But the author focuses on classification by artistic decoration, not by value, dividing them into 5 groups by the shape of their necks and pommels, and also comparing the Yakut serge with the serge of other peoples, such as Buryats, Khakas, Tuvans, Kirghiz and Altaians ^{[22, pp. 213-224]}. This classification, proposed by S.V. Ivanov, is the result of an artistic approach to the study of the subject.

In the materials of I.S. Gurvich, the use of the serge ritual pillar in the ceremony of greeting the bride in the groom's house is mentioned, according to T.D. Kopylov, born in 1902, in the village of Kundyad of the Leninsky district.  The groom's relatives drove the horse and the bride around serge three times, after which they brought them to the house itself, where the ceremony continued by lighting a fire in three places and sacrificing oil to the fire. According to a native of the village of Kyachchi, Olekminsky district, P.E. Machalykov, born in 1897, a ceremony of introducing the bride to the house took place at the serge hitching post ^{[23, pp. 15-18]}.

N.D. Arkhipov, exploring the ancient cultures of Yakutia, noted in his work that a wooden hitching post was necessarily dug into the ground in front of each yurt ^{[24, p. 125]}.

In the works of A.N. Alekseev, it is noted that the ancient Yakuts had the idea that the pillars of serge possessed spirits-ichchi, who protected dwellings and the whole genus from diseases and troubles, preventing evil spirits from entering the territory of the living space ^[25].

Ritual pillars were also used in various rites. So, for example, in one of the villages of the Mountain ulus, the ceremony of raising the bones of the ancestor of the clan of shaman Yunyogon was held several times. For this rite, it is necessary to tie a sacrificial stallion to the serge post, then killing it, cutting the chest cavity and tearing the aorta. After that, the rite of reburial itself began ^{[26, pp. 70-72]}.

The research of scientists of the Soviet period revealed more widely the existence and functions of the ritual pillars of serge. Despite the political, economic, and economic difficulties of the society of this period, the role and importance of serge in the life of the people did not decrease. Researchers of the XX century . Serge was noted as one of the most important monuments of the material culture of the Yakuts, considering them as an integral part of not only the material, but also the spiritual life of the people. In this regard, it is necessary to note the works of P.A. Sleptsov, S.I. Bolo, I.S. Gurvich, S.V. Ivanov, F.M. Zykov. In the studies of these scientists, attempts were made for the first time to identify the degree of study of the problem, a consistent systematization of the collected data on the ritual pillars of serge was carried out.

In the 1990s, due to the little-studied topic, V.F. Yakovlev devoted a whole work to systematizing information about wooden pillars – serge. In his work, the author gives his classification of the Yakut serge, where he also considers two versions of their origin. He also identified three types of Yakut serge (outbuildings, cult and ritual) ^{[27, 28]}. Moreover, he described each type of Yakut serge, describing in detail the rituals in which certain serge were established, expanding the concept of them. This classification was proposed by the author taking into account the worldview of the Yakuts, reflecting a practical orientation, i.e. for its intended purpose: the need to ensure the reproduction of livestock, the desire to preserve health, to protect against evil spirits, troubles, etc..

In the works of N.K. Danilova, the pillars of serge were examined in order to determine the ritual and mythological content of the traditional Yakut dwelling in the context of spatial representations and to identify its semiotic status in the traditional picture of the world. The researcher notes that in recent years, the installation of serge pillars by the Yakut diasporas and the leadership of the republic in various cities and countries has been actualized, thereby establishing a semiotic connection with the native land ^{[29, 30]}

S.A. Dyakonova proposed her own classification of Yakut hitching posts, distinguishing two groups of serge, within which their main types were identified: economic and sacred ^{[31, pp. 86-93]}. The latter classification differs from the previous one in that it is: firstly, divided according to their functional characteristics, where the first type of serge - economic, implies a purely utilitarian function, the function of tying horses and cattle, and the second – sacred, already magico-religious function of serge, intended for the commission of certain Secondly, the distinctive feature is that S.A. Diakonova unites cult and ritual under the sacral form of serge, the proposed division of V.F. Yakovlev. Also, the author, within each group of serge, in economic and sacred, identifies several types according to their artistic design, considering serge as a monument of architectural and artistic culture of the people.

Data on funeral serge are found in the work "Funeral and memorial rites of the Yakuts: traditions and modernity (XIV-XIX centuries)" by R.I. Bravina and V.V. Popov ^[32]. Researchers separately distinguish burial serge as a separate type of structures of the near-burial space. Basically, such serge hitching posts were installed near the grave at a distance of 2-3 m. on the western or north-western side. Unlike previous researchers, R.I. Bravina and V.V. Popov describe varieties of funerary serge. Among these, you can find such serge as kiiyit serge (serge of the bride), obuge suolun serge (serge of the ancestral road), ba5ah urgel serge (serge with forks, from 1 and more), holduga at serge (serge to which the funeral horse was tied), dabaty serge (serge installed during the ceremony ytyk dabaty) and so on. From this it follows that the funeral serge could represent some information about the buried. Thus, in the funerary serge, you can find the whole complex of varieties of serge, which include outbuildings, cult and ritual.

In the materials of the Yakut Olonkho in the studies of A.I. Gogolev and A.A. Burtsev, three types of epic serge are described, where a bar kyyl, a griffin usually sits on top of the main serge, and on the middle ones there is more often an image of birds, less often other animals ^[33].

In his work "The transformation of the traditional culture of the Yakuts (the end of the XX – beginning of the XXI century), D.G. Bragina, investigating the processes of transformation of the material culture of the Yakuts, notes that in the villages ethnic specificity in the stylization of the dwelling is more evident, as well as the fact that the ritual pillars of the serge began to perform more of the function of an ethnic symbol ^{[34, p. 105]}.

The latest literature provides more complete information about the ritual pillars of serge. The functions and significance are widely considered, and some comparative analysis of hitching posts in various regions of Yakutia is also carried out. It should be noted the works of such researchers as V.F. Yakovlev, R.I. Bravina, V.V. Popov, A.I. Gogolev and D.G. Bragin, who expanded the concept of serge in modern practice, considered various types of ritual pillars in the practice of the Yakuts.

Numerous serge, widespread on the territory of Yakutia, attracted little attention of researchers who met serge in various places of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). At the beginning of the historical and ethnographic study of the life of the Yakuts, the Yakut serge were not subjected to a deeper study, despite their important role in the life of the people.

An analysis of the bibliography accumulated over all the years of research on the issue of Yakut ritual pillars of serge allows us to conclude that scientific knowledge about hitching posts is a complex system. The research of the Yakut serge throughout history has been uneven.

All previous studies of pre-revolutionary and Soviet scientists created the basis for a new period, the third, the development of the study of Yakut ritual pillars of serge. At the present stage, the study of ritual monuments has acquired a multi-level, complex character. The materials of numerous monuments are introduced into scientific circulation. Multidisciplinary methods of study and new technologies will certainly have a positive impact on the further study and understanding of the material presented in the scientific literature regarding the Yakut pillars of the Serge to determine their role and significance in the development of the people throughout the diachronic section. The research of the last decades has significantly replenished the source base of cult objects – unique archaeological monuments reflecting irrational views of man and allowing to partially reconstruct the spiritual culture of society.

The literature reviewed and the relevance of the research topic showed the need for a more thorough study of the serge, which carry a large semantic and functional load, both in the past and in the present in the worldview of the Yakuts. All the literature we have reviewed indicates that there are no generally accepted and generalized studies in the scientific literature on this topic.

A comprehensive study and coverage of the problem of historiography, the history of ritual hitching posts to our time leads to the conclusion that in order to further develop the principles and main directions and solve little-explored issues, in our opinion, a survey of poorly studied areas of the republic is required in order to study hitching posts, widespread accounting and cartography, as well as the use of the latest computer technologies.

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