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Abstract
A significant number of monumental stone objects (stone crosses, anthropomorphic and cruciform steles, sculptures, etc.) have been preserved in the North Caucasus and are regarded as an integral part of the local historical and cultural landscape. The article is devoted to a generalized typological study of these objects, without explicit emphasis on religious and ethnic affiliation. Such an approach to the study of monumental objects makes it possible not only to identify the vectors of cultural influence in the local territories under study, but also, in some cases, to partially fill in the lost cultural and historical context. Based on the results of numerous field studies in the North Caucasus and a number of other regions, as well as previously published materials on the subject, the authors identify several features of the development of the forms of these monuments and propose clarifications to their typology. Conclusions are drawn about the probability of an independent genesis of the objects under consideration (anthropomorphic sculptures, stone crosses, and anthropomorphic steles) and the presence of intra-group evolution among them, with the emergence of various subgroups and types. The article also proposes a broader model for the formation of these objects of monumental stone art in the North Caucasus, and the most stable group of monuments, which can be traced for several millennia, is identified.
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