The sense of smell as well as other organs of human senses play an important role in social communication, in the intercommunication of people with the natural world and another world inhabited by supernatural beings. Peculiarities of the perception of odors and their significance in the life of society, the functions of the organs of perception in traditional culture in general, and communication in particular of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples of Inner Asia, have not yet become the subject of special research. The purpose of this article is to fill this gap. The study showed that the sense of smell, like other sensory organs in nomadic culture, plays an important role in social communication, in the communication of people with the natural world and another world. The world view of nomads built into the system of smells is not unique – pleasant smells are familiar to the herder, they characterize the Upper world of deities, unpleasant – the Lower world. The combination both of them is distinguished by the earthly world of man. In the communication of people with another world, special importance is attached to the role of sacred plants – thyme, juniper, fir, whose smell is found to be pleasant throughout the studied region. Their functions are concentrated in the ritual sphere: they cleanse of filth, treat patients, open “channels of communication” with other worlds. With the spread of Buddhism, nomads became acquainted with the smells of “overseas” sacred plants, which gradually replaced the local ones. The smell is due to the social and cultural factors. In this regard, the range of pleasant/familiar smells of nomads is formed by the smells of domestic animals - horses, cows, sheep, the smell of dairy products, boiled meat. In our opinion, the smell, but not the external appearance of a person, animal, plant or object formed the basis of a very important concept in the traditional culture of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples about sacred purity/impurity mainly. The smell played an important role in the social communication of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples. It was evidenced by the prevailing form of contacts between close people – sniffing. The significance of the smell is evidenced by a complex of traditional expressions that characterized the dignity of man. It was revealed that olfactory information was given more importance in natural zones with limited visibility – in the steppe zone, taiga.

Sodnompilova Marina Mikhailovna, Doctor of Sciences (History), Associate Professor, Department of Ethnology and Folkart Culture, East-Siberian State Institute of Culture; 1, Tereshkova st., Ulan-Ude, 670031, Russian Federation, e-mail: sodnompilova@yandex.ru

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