Permian bronze casts

It was spread throughout a large area of forests of the north-eastern Urals and western Siberia from the basins of the Kama and Vyatka to the Ob.

In the Middle Ages, these territories were inhabited mostly by the Ugrian tribes, ancestors of the present day Hungarians and Ob-Ugrians – the Khanty and the Mansi people.

Despite over a century of research into the field, Perm animal style still remains one of the most mysterious cultural phenomena of Eurasia.

[1][2] Researchers point to the influence of Scytho-Sarmatian animal style on the development of cult toreutics of the forests of the north: famous animal battle scenes, vertical model of the Universe in the form of three worlds – three levels of the plaques and the cult of the great mother-goddess are present in both styles.

Figures depicted on the images are elks, rain-deers, bears, fur-bearing and other types of animals, horses, different waterfowl and birds of prey, snakes, insects and a number of "complex creatures" of mixed nature (hybrids), mixed zoomorphic and anthropomorphic half-human creatures; there are also a number of images of horsemen.

According to the sphere of usage, cult metalwork objects can be divided into groups: for instance, the ones protecting against diseases (they were as a norm kept at home), the others – "spirits of the happiness" – bringing luck as a response to the sacrifices (they were inside community temples).The diversity of cult artifacts and mythological stories on the plaques presuppose the existence of developed mythology of the creators of the animal style.

Casting of objects for worship existed for over a thousand years and ensured the unity of the pagan world of the Urals and Western Siberia.