Collections

The Horniman holds a number of objects relating to Shamanism in Central Asia.

Shamanistic material culture consists of monuments such as sacred mountains and trees, costume and musical instruments. The Horniman collection contains two drums: one from Buriat Mongolia, the other from Tibet; a shaman's figure from Altai; a wooden ladle for the milk offering from Mongolia; and a number of amulets and talismans from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey. Some of the paintings in the Mongolian collection depict shamanic themes; the journey in the sky and combat with dragons, taming animals and herding deities. Given the preoccupation with animals in shamanic beliefs it is possible that some of the examples of Animal Style art are also of relevance: the 'hungry-monster' tao-teih motif in Tibetan prayer wheels, the ibex on a Mongolian dish, and the birds on Turkomen earrings - vestigial survivals.

Under Communist regimes in the USSR and Mongolia, shamanism was savagely repressed. It is now reviving in Mongolia, but its material culture there remains unobtrusive compared with earlier material from Tuva and Siberia.

Many people think that Shamanism was the original religion of mankind, which first developed in the Palaeolithic or Stone Age, perhaps in North East Asia. Others see it not as a coherent system of beliefs, but as having developed from folk beliefs following the spread of more formalised religions.

This is an extract from Ken Teague’s book Nomads describing the nomadic holdings of the Horniman Museum.