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“Poultry Sacrifice in the Funeral Rituals of the Balkan Slavs and Their Neighbors: An Areal Perspective

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.37816/2073‑9567‑2026‑80‑89‑102
  • УДК / UDC: 393 + 398.4 + 81'373.2
  • Publication Type: Research Article
  • For Citation:

    Plotnikova, A.A. “Poultry Sacrifice in the Funeral Rituals of the Balkan Slavs and Their Neighbors: An Areal Perspective.” Vestnik slavianskikh kul’tur, vol. 80, 2026, pp. 89–102. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.37816/2073‑9567‑2026‑80‑89‑102 
  • Author 1: Anna A. Plotnikova
  • Information about the Author 1:

    Anna A. Plotnikova — DSc in Philology, Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Ave., 32A, 119334 Moscow, Russia.

    ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000‑0001‑9154‑5046

    E‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
  • Abstract: The paper examines traces of rooster and hen sacrifice in the funeral and commemorative ritual practices of Serbs, Bulgarians, Romanians, as well as their neighbors in the Balkans and the Carpathian region, within a broad areal context. The aim is to identify archaic layers of folk beliefs reflected in the symbolism of domestic fowl. Four principal motifs associated with chickens in funerary contexts are identified: the prophetic role of a rooster or hen foretelling death; the gifting of a bird to ritual participants or outsiders; the sacrificial substitution of a human life with the head of a hen or rooster; and beliefs about the soul of the deceased being accompanied by a rooster (more rarely, a hen) to the gates of paradise. A common leitmotif underlying all examined narratives is the sacrifice of a rooster or hen, framed as a gift, alms, or, in some cases, as punishment imposed on the bird for behavior considered abnormal within folk belief systems. The collected folkloric, ethnographic, and linguistic material is based on the author’s field expeditions, as well as those of colleagues, conducted in various regions of Southern and Eastern Slavia. The study also incorporates data from dialect dictionaries and descriptions of funeral and commemorative rituals documented by local researchers across Slavic and Carpatho‑Balkanian regions. Particular attention is given to the Eastern Romanian tradition, as well as to parallel motifs involving domestic fowl among the Eastern Slavs.
  • Keywords: Serbs, Romanians, Vlachs, Eastern Slavs, Carpathians, ethnolinguistics, archaism, funerary‑commemorative rite, rooster, hen, sacrifice
  • Funding Sources: The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22‑18‑00484‑П “Slavic‑non‑Slavic borderlands: funeral and memorial rite in eth‑ nolinguistic coverage”.
  • Страницы / Pages: 89–102
  • Received: December 25, 2025
  • Approved after Reviewing: June 01, 2026
  • Publication Date: June 25, 2026

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