Fabric from the Collection of Finds of the 13th–14th Centuries Found in the Tunka Valley (Republic of Buryatia)

Abstract

Collection No. 192 is kept in the Irkutsk regional museum of local history. There is no documentation for the collection. Most of the items in the collection date back to 13th – 14th centuries. They are probably the accompaniments to burials excavated by B.E. Petri in the middle of 20s of 20th century in the Tunka valley on the Mondy 1 burial ground. The collection includes two fragments of silk fabric. On one of them, a leaf with a complicated edge is woven with gold threads, on the other – a parrot sitting on a peony shrub. It can be assumed that the first fragment is part of a ceremonial robe. The second fragment could have been part of boots, a handbag, or a large robe trimmed with fur. A silk headscarf with parrots and peonies embroidered with gold threads, similar to images from collection No. 192, was found in burial No. 6 of the Nogoon Gozgor 1 burial ground on the northern shore of Lake Khovsgol in Mongolia. Based on AMS14С dating, this burial, like Mondy 1, is dated to 14th century.

Keywords

• archaeology
• buryatia
• tunka valley
• irkutsk regional museum of local history
• mongol empire
• accompaniments
• silk fabric
• image of parrots and peonies