Kurgan stelae [a] or Balbals (Ukrainian: балбал, most probably from Turkic word balbal meaning "ancestor" or "grandfather" [3]) are anthropomorphic stone stelae, images cut from stone, installed atop, within or around kurgans (i.e. tumuli), in kurgan cemeteries, or in a double line

An anthropomorphic stone statue, 1 to 4 m in height, found in the steppe belt of Europe and Asia from the Dnister River in the west to Mongolia in the east. Commonly used as grave markers, the baby were connected with cults of the dead among nomadic peoples.

Sep 21, 2022 · Several sacred Polovtsian statues known as stone babas, dating from the ninth to the 13th century, have been destroyed during Russia’s six-month occupation of Izyum. A strategic city in the...

So the term ‘stone baba’ refers to monumental stone sculptures that portray both male and female figures. The creation of such sculptures is connected with the tradition of steppe tumuli or kurgans – high funeral structures that were raised above their ancestors' graves.

Often erected in the exact place where a Cuman died, babas were sculpted out of stone to contain the soul of the departed, channelling their presence as though they participated in their own burial, thus marking the end of the natural cycle of life.

The Polovtsian Babas, also known as stone babas or kurgan stelae, are a mysterious collection of anthropomorphic stone statues. They date back to the medieval period, standing as intriguing remnants of the Cumans’ or Polovtsy’s historical presence in Eurasia.

Oct 20, 2024 · A Stone Baba statue, traditionally used as a gravestone by Turks for millennia, is on display at the Erzurum Museum. This remarkable statue, dating back 2500 years, has garnered significant attention.

Mar 31, 2016 · Primitive stone figures called Stone babas , which are found throughout southern Ukraine, were closely connected with the Cuman religious cult of shamanism. Like other Turkic tribes, the Cumans tolerated all religions; hence, Islam …

In the 70s of the 19th century, Savva Ivanovich Mamontov built a railway in the Kharkov province, and brought from there two figures made from sandstone by the Polovtsians in the 11th-12th centuries. They installed similar figures over the graves of their leaders.

People from the Karst recognized the Baba from Trieste in differ-ent ways: as a fountain, a place by the »sacred rock« (Škala šanta), and in its primary form as a stone monolith. Throughout the area, stone Babas were represented as personifications of a woman; a repulsive old woman.