South-udmurt sacred place is Lud (etymology of the word is not clear) which is located 1 km to South-Southeast of the village Kuzebaevo (Udmurt Kuz’obaj < Kuz’o «master, owner, proprietor» + baj «rich man, kulak»). It is Alnashsky District of Udmurt Republic (the Russian Federation) on headland (promontory) of the left side (is the height about 42 m [8, p. 3], [9, p. 46], [10, p. 147] and the angle of inclination is 18-20° [10, p. 125]) of southern exposure of Varzi River’s valley on territory of archeological side of Mazunino, Kushnarenkovo, Karayakupovo and Imen’kovo cultures in the locality of hill fort “Kuzebaevskoe I” – IV-V (on data of V.F. Gening [2, p. 161]: IV-VI), VII centuries AD [8, p. 112], [10, p. 147], as well as XVIII-XIX centuries AD [10, p. 88], however the territory of the sanctuary Lud in the area of the hill fort dates back to archaeologists to the late medieval period [10, p. 87, 90-92], most likely date of the prayer meeting place’s origination is XVII century AD [10, p. 90].
The holy place is dedicated to the pagan deity Lud. As for celebration of cult on the sanctuary Lud you can see [1, p. 13-15], [7, p. 64-65], [9, p. 49-51, 265], [10, p. 111-112, 122-125]. It is worth noting that the deity Lud worshiped only representatives of the udmurt kind Lud-vyzhy (Udmurt vyzhy «root, kind (clan), tribe»), whereas in the village Kuzebaevo there are two udmurt kinds of addition to the above: Budd’z’ym kua-vyzhy (the kind of Great kuala; Udmurt budd’z’ym, bydd’z’ym «big, large, great», Udmurt kua, kuala «pagan familial-tribal sacred wooden construction of udmurts») and Bulda-vyzhy (Bulda is udmurt tribal deity).
The natural-cult object Lud is near from the village Kuzebaevo. It was earlier studied for ecological state [3], [4], [5, p. 207], [10, p. 125-127]. The current research, which was conducted in 2013-2014, can be considered the monitoring continuation of these works.
The vegetation of object Lud is strongly sparse stand of trees represented where Abies sibirica Ledeb. was dominated, Picea × fennica (Regl.) Kom. is rarely observed. Broad-leaved species are presented Acer platanoides L. and single pieces of Tilia cordata Mill., Ulmus laevis Pall., Quercus robur L. Shrub layer is presented Euonymus verrucosus Scop., Sorbus aucuparia L., Corylus avellana L. In the herbage there is a large number of forest-steppe species (Phlomis tuberosa L., Nepeta pannonica L., Asparagus officinalis L., Ajuga genevensis L., Lavatera thuringiaca L., Eryngium planum L., Salvia glutinosa L., Astragalus glycyphyllos L., Libanotis intermedia Rupr., Fillipendula vulgaris Moench. and other), and also pratal and forest-marginal plants (Origanum vulgare L., Plantago stepposa Opiz., Turritis glabra L., Verbascum nigrum L. and other) that is connected with geographical location of Alnashsky District in the south of Udmurtia where is the steppe formation of the territory.
We would like to note this fact, that around the sacred place anthropogenic ecosystems are located: some agroecosystems such as: cultivated fields, grasslands and greenlands, as well as some damaged natural ecosystems such as: ruderal roadside communities, waste grounds, Varzi River’s damaged floodplain. Let’s guess that as a result their influences the adventive species of plants penetrate on the sacral territory. We recorded 25 species: Consolida regalis L., Urtica urens L., Сhenopodium hybridum L., Fallopia convolvulus (L.) A. Löve, Berteroa incana (L.) DC., Camelina microcarpa Andrz., Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik., Sisymbrium Loeselii L., Melilotus albus Medik., Melilotus officinalis (L.) Pall., Pastinaca sylvestris Mill., Collomia linearis Nutt., Cynoglossum officinale L., Leonurus quinquelobatus Gilib., Carduus thoermeri Weinm., Cichorium intybus L., Vicia sativa L., Vicia cracca L., Vicia faba L., Chenopodium glaucum L., Chenopodium album L., Potentilla anserine L., Artemisia vulgaris L., Artemisia absinthium L., Bromus inermis Leyss.
Notability that only the first 16 listed alien species have been recorded in the early 2000s [10, p. 126] that only confirms the assumption of increasing anthropogenic pressure on the ecosystem of sacral area.
On the territory of object Lud was revealed 103 vascular plant species; in the early 2000s – 95 species [10, p. 126], which is probably connected with increase in the number of adventive species.
We also found two species of plants in relation which must be realized monitoring on the territory of Udmurt Republic [6, p. 448-449] – Campanula rapunculoides L. and Pyrethrum corymbosum (L.) Scop.
Interestingly, that we have not found vegetation of Dianthus versicolor Fisch. ex Link, although this species was recorded in the early 2000s in the composition of flora of the territory of natural-cult object Lud [10, p. 126].
So, the development of the sacral place’s ecosystem continues to follow on regressive type: there is an increase adventive species of plants and the gradual replacement species of native flora, stand of trees’ shrinking and shrub layer’s degradation; successional processes occur in the direction of anthropogenization of territory.
The list of references:
- Kosareva I.A. On Lud and Kuala social-cult groups of the Udmurts // Herald of Chelyabinsk State University. 2011. №34. P. 12-15.
- Генинг В.Ф. Археологические памятники Удмуртии. Ижевск: Удмуртское книжное издательство, 1958. 192 с.
- Капитонов В.И., Капитонова О.А. Значение священных рощ в сохранении редких и исчезающих видов растений и животных Удмуртии// Гуманитарный экологический журнал. 2002. Вып. 4. URL: https://www.ecoethics.ru/old/m08/x22.html
- Капитонов В. И., Капитонова О.А., Лебедева С.Х., Перевощиков А.А. Современное состояние священных рощ на территории Удмуртии// Гуманитарный экологический журнал. 2002. Вып. 4. URL: https://www.ecoethics.ru/old/m08/x23.html
- Капитонов В.И. Современное состояние и перспективы сохранения священных рощ в Удмуртии // Культурные памятники Камско-Вятского региона: Материалы и исследования. Сб. ст. / отв. ред., авт. предисл. Н.И. Шутова. Ижевск: УИИЯЛ УрО РАН, 2004. С. 205-211.
- Красная книга Удмуртской Республики. Изд. 2-е. / Под ред. О.Г. Барановой. Чебоксары: «Перфектум», 2012. 458 с.
- Овсянникова Е. Кузёбай вӧсьёс // Инвожо. 2001. №12. 60-68-тӥ б.
- Останина Т.И. Кузебаевское городище. IV-V, VII вв. Каталог археологической коллекции. Ижевск: Изд. дом «Удмуртский ун-т», 2002. 112 с.
- Шутова Н.И. Дохристианские культовые памятники в удмуртской религиозной традиции: Опыт комплексного исследования. Ижевск: УИИЯЛ УрО РАН, 2001. 304 с.
- Шутова Н.И., Капитонов В.И., Кириллова Л.Е., Останина Т.И. Историко-культурный ландшафт Камско-Вятского региона: Коллективная монография / Науч. ред, авт. Введ. и закл. Н.И. Шутова; УИИЯЛ УрО РАН. Ижевск, 2009. 244 с.[schema type=»book» name=»A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF ECOLOGICAL STATE OF UDMURT SACRED PLACE LUD NEAR THE VILLAGE KUZEBAEVO IN ALNASHSKY DISTRICT OF UDMURT REPUBLIC» description=»We briefly described the current ecological state of the udmurt sacral territory Lud near the village Kuzebaevo (the Udmurt Republic, the Russian Federation). As a result of the biomonitoring (2013-2014) was revealed that the development of the natural-cult object’s ecosystem continues to follow by regressive type.» author=»Altyntsev Alexey Vladimirovich, Tuganaev Viktor Vasil’evich» publisher=»БАСАРАНОВИЧ ЕКАТЕРИНА» pubdate=»2017-04-21″ edition=»ЕВРАЗИЙСКИЙ СОЮЗ УЧЕНЫХ_ 28.03.2015_03(12)» ebook=»yes» ]