ANIMAL SACRIFICE IN OSSETIAN RITUAL CULTURE: TRADITIONAL HIGHLAND PIETY AND THE CHALLENGES OF LATE MODERNITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32653/CH223%25pKeywords:
North Ossetia, Ossetians, anthropology of religion, vows, animal sacrifice, ritual, pilgrimageAbstract
This study investigates the structural functions and contemporary transformations of animal sacrifice within Ossetian traditional culture, analyzing its persistence and adaptation in modern urban settings. Animal sacrifice serves as a foundational component of the communal ritual feast that anchors both annual calendar celebrations and life-cycle rites. Central to this tradition is the veneration of sacred shrines – dzuærtte, where sacrificial offerings function simultaneously as the focal point of collective neighborhood or lineage-based rituals and as a primary mechanism for fulfilling personal vows made to a dzuar – a sacred entity that functions as both a patron deity and a physical sanctuary. The ongoing vitality of this practice is sustained by a robust oral tradition, including etiology legends and cautionary narratives regarding ritual transgressions, as well as by modern media platforms that promote folk heritage. Concurrently, the study highlights a profound shift in the underlying logic of ritual performance amidst urbanization. Traditional divination practices and lot-casting once used to discern divine will regarding animal selection are increasingly replaced by the commercial procurement of livestock at specialized suburban markets. Furthermore, the administrative responsibility for organizing rituals has shifted from traditional lot-drawing to structured household and urban neighborhood rotation systems. In contemporary urban environments, sacrificial rituals increasingly serve as public demonstrations of social cohesion, collective agency, and group identity, even as these practices become embedded within market relations. Situated within social anthropology, this research integrates published ethnographic and folkloric sources with primary qualitative data collected through participant observation and field interviews across North Ossetia.
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