Restoration and research of the archaeological fabric from burial of the bulgarian woman of the Golden Horde period (the end of the XIV century)

Abstract

The results of technological research of silk fabrics from the noble-born woman grave from Bolgar, which was made in the period of the Golden Horde are represented in the article. The burial has been found in the ruins of the mausoleum, which is dated from the end of the XIV century. The deviation from the Islamic traditions is regarded as peculiarity of this burial. There were found clothes from silk, which was decorated by golden threads and the temple rings. The object of study is a well-preserved complex headdress, which includes several textile layers, such kinds of the silk products of various kinds: shawls, scarves, veilings. That sort of headdress has analogues in ethnographic materials in Central Asia. Microscopy has been used to determine the species composition of the fabrics: there were considered the structure of textile weaves, technology for manufacturing threads, in polychrome fabrics - colour selection of the threads. The samples of medieval fabrics, such as lance, taffeta, summit and others have been identified. During the restoration of the veiling the method of stabilizing the object has been used, which combines the strengthening of the gold threads and plasticization of the archaeological fabrics. Golden embroidery pattern has been also recovered. The enhanced diversity indicates on developed trading system with various sources of imports - from China, Central Asia, Egypt.

Keywords

• Golden Horde
• fabric
• microscopy studies
• head wear
• silk
• gold embroidery