Malta Bestiary: Birds, Snakes and Others

The paper presents the results of a complex study of the collection of zoomorphic figurines from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Malta in the Angara region of Eastern Siberia. The materials described and analyzed in the paper were obtained during the excavations by M. M. Gerasimov in 1928—1958 and are currently divided between four museums in Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Irkutsk. Based on morphometric, stylistic, technological and use wear analyses in combination with zoological, archaeozoological and ethnographic evidence, the authors propose new classification and interpretation of the zoomorphic figurines they studied. The Malta zoomorphic sculpture is notable for its realism, attention to details and sophisticated techniques of manufacture and decoration. The proposed classification forms the basis of the information system “Art of Malta culture”.