ANTHROPOMORPHIC STELLAS IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL STUDIES

A significant place in the structure of the historical and cultural heritage of Ukraine is given to archaeological monuments, which include anthropomorphic steles. In their totality, archaeological monuments provide rich material for the study of the civilizational identity of the Ukrainian people, knowledge of history and culture. In particular, the archaeological monuments of Ukraine constitute a significant share in the cultural heritage of the world, which determines the responsibility of the Ukrainian state and the people themselves for the preservation of their historical and cultural heritage and its transfer to future generations.The oldest artistic achievements of mankind include anthropomorphic steles, which are associated with the funerary rituals of the Indo-Europeans and the halo of their settlement. Most stone steles have survived on the territory of Ukraine, but sometimes they are found in France, Spain, Bulgaria, and Romania.Stone statues were mainly carved by the descendants of Indo-Europeans, who during mass movements and migrations during the Copper Age and Early Bronze Age also lived on Ukrainian lands, which later led to the linguistic and cultural assimilation of the local population and the use of many elements of the economic and household complex.They created the so-called Yamna, Catacomb, Nizhnyomikhailiv, Kemi-Obinsk, archaeological cultures. However, scientists cannot agree on the cultural affiliation of anthropomorphic steles. While stone steles are present in cult monumental funerary architecture - the construction of burial mounds, when a structure made of earth, stones, wood, etc. was built over the burial of one or more graves, and an anthropomorphic stela was erected on top of the mound, which was popularly called "Stone Women", "Stone Maidens", "Mary's Stones".Scientists divide steles into two groups: steles-slabs without anthropoidity – without head contours; anthropomorphic steles – a mandatory image of the head, made of columnar sandstone blocks or slabs. There are many different hypotheses regarding the purpose of ancient stone statues. According to them, most scientists agree that anthropomorphic steles represent idols/deities.