Funerary kaliga from Malaya Ryazan burial ground of the Golden Horde time on the Samarskаya Luka: problems of restoration and attribution

Abstract

The article investigates the problems of restoration and attribution of leather footwear from the Malaya Ryazan burial ground of the Golden Horde time on the Samarskаya Luka. It contains a detailed description of the main stages in restoration of archaeological leather items, overview of leather structure, chemical processes it is exposed to during archaeologization. The authors focus on study of funerary footwear from Malaya Ryazan burial ground. Male grave no. 131, by Christian rite, contained a pair of leather shoes, which was preliminarily attributed as funerary footwear. The find was then subjected to restoration. The study showed that the shoes were made of cattle hide. Due to incomplete plasticization of the leather, the restorers decided to reconstruct the cut without completely reconstructing its form. The remaining seams and sections helped recreate what was supposed to be the original cut of the shoes. The restored leather was superimposed on the duplicating material corresponding to the shape of the pattern. The study of footwear has not given any evidence of intravital usage, i.e. the shoes were made especially for the funeral. Similar ritual footwear can be correlated with the kaliga mentioned in written sources.

Keywords

• Samara region
• Malya Ryazan burial ground
• Golden Horde time
• archaeological leather
• restoration of leather
• funerary footwear
• reconstruction
• attribution
• kaliga