Boktag From Two Burials of the Bashkir-Berkutov Burial Mound (preliminary analysis)

Abstract

A comprehensive study of the Golden Horde costume involves the study of not only clothing, but also numerous elements of accessories indicating the social status, practically complementing and completing the image. One of these elements is a “boktag” – an intricate headdress of a noble married woman. In 1968-69, the Bashkir-Berkutov barrows were excavated in the Kugarchinsky region of the Republic of Bashkortostan by the Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Bashkir branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The purpose of the publication is to analyze the preserved details and jewelry from the “boktag” female headdress. The paper considers the birch bark frames from two burials, as well as an amulet box and preserved fragments of fabric. The analogies to this birch-bark structure revealed in the Novy Kumak III, Khabarny I sites as well as the burial mounds Kara-Oba, Shlyakhovsky III, Guva III mounds are detailed. The thorough study of this type of frames is a step towards a unifi ed typology for boktag headdress.

Keywords

• archaeology
• south ural region
• golden horde
• birch bark
• design
• mound
• burial ground
• headdress
• boktag