E. F. FURSOVAInstitute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS 17 Akademika Lavrentieva Ave., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia E-mail:mf11@mail.ru Introduction The specificity of Russian ornamental art lies in the fact that many centuries after the spread of Christianity, it has not lost the plot compositions of the times of Slavic paganism. However, the question of the genesis of many folk art motifs can hardly be considered solved, despite the fact that specialists in various fields of knowledge (ethnographers, art historians, archaeologists) periodically offer their own versions of the interpretation of compositions and their individual elements. It is quite obvious that it is possible to find out the origin of archaic embroidery plots and trace their connection with customs and rituals only if the available materials on the entire complex of spiritual culture phenomena dating back to different stages of the historical development of the Eastern Slavs are compared as fully as possible. The materials obtained during the expedition research in the south of Western Siberia demonstrate the amazing persistence of the traditions of the spiritual and material culture of the East Slavic peoples and indicate a fairly wide distribution of ornithomorphic motifs in family and calendar rituals, as well as in the visual arts in this region. What is behind the popularity of "bird images" among Russian peasants of Western Siberia? To what extent does this reflect the ethno-cultural specifics of the population of the territory of "secondary" development? The main sources for analyzing the above problems are two types of field collections. The first category includes handicrafts made by peasants of Western Siberia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, primarily embroidery, house carvings, and paintings of spinning wheels found in villages and museums in the Ob region, Baraba, Kulunda, and Altai. The second source is recordings of conversations with informants, which made it possible ... Read more