Tyragetia (Nov 2018)

Parts of the Female Costume from a Golden Horde Grave of the Tingutinsky I Kurgan Cemetery. Conservation and preliminary conclusions

  • Zvezdana Dode

Journal volume & issue
Vol. XII, no. 1
pp. 331 – 346

Abstract

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This article introduces textile finds discovered in a grave of the Tingutinsky I kurgan cemetery. It is discussed in the context of similar materials from a Golden Horde burial of the Ryabichev kurgan cemetery, where the cloth has well preserved and its original cut was traced as a result of the laboratory cleaning. Textiles are considered as a special attribute of the burial rite. The nature of the details and separation of the elements of the female headdress boghtag from both the Tingutinsky and the Ryabichev burials are interpreted as the destruction of the headdress during the funeral process. The shape of the headdress found in these indicates that nomadic females lived in the Volga region of the Golden Horde were also wearing boghtag with finial in a form of a capital, and not only in a form of a duck beak or boot. The article focuses on the main methodological methods used for the conservation of textile objects from the Tingutinsky grave. In order to stabilize and preserve textile finds, there were used information neutral materials that mark the reconstructed areas but not violate the authenticity of the objects.

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