Material Culture and Sacred Landscape: The Anthropology of the Siberian Khanty

This study provides a concrete example of how foraging societies enculturate and transform the natural environment and, through the use of material objects, create sacred spaces and sites. Using ethngraphic and ethnohistorical information about the Khanty of Siberia, Jordan shows the shortcomings of both interpretative and materialist anthropological theorizing about hunters and gatherers. He focuses on the rich and complex relationship between the symbolism of the Khanty, their material culture, and the brining of meaning to physical places. His examination examines the topic in both historical and contemporary contexts, and in scale from the core-periphery model of Russian colonialism to the portrait of a single yurt community. Jordan’s work is of relevance to those studying cultural anthropology, archaeology and comparative religion.