RECONSTRUCTION OFFEMALE COSTUME AMONGTHENOMADS OFTHEHUNPERIODIN THEALTAIMOUNTAINS
Y.S. KHUDYAKOV
Animportant partof the ethnographic culture of nomad peoples is their costume. Yet, atthearchaeological sites ofthe nomad culture in themountainous partsof the Altai region, objectsrelating to costumeare only seldom in astatethat makesit possible to establish thecut of garments or the shape of head-dresses. Asa rule, in nomadburials metal jewellery and belt partssurvive, but all that survivesfrom clothes are small remnantsof textiles. Theexception to this rule is providedby burial-moundsof the Pazyryk culture that arepreserved by the frozenearth below the burial mounds, whichhas made possible thewonderful stateof preservation of garments, footwear and head-dresses of ancient nomads madefrom cloth, leatherand felt. 1 Until recentlysimilar nds hadnot beenmade atsites ofthe Hun period relating to the1 st and 2nd century AD. In1989 aburialwas discovered for the rst time in theburial-ground of Ust- Ediganin themountains ofthe Altai, in whichthanks to thespecial features of theconstruction of the funerary structure many articles made of organic materials werewell preserved, including ahead-dressand an outer garment. TheUst-Edigan burial-ground is in theChemal district ofthe Altai Republic. Itis locatedon ahigh terraceon theeast bank of the Katun River 3 kilometres to theSouth ofthe mouth ofthe Edigan River, westof the Elanda-Kuyus River, 8kilometresfrom the town ofKuyus. Excavationof the site beganin 1988. 2 In1988-1994 over 105 featureswithin theterritory of the burial-ground were excavatedand of these 76 relatedto theHun period. 3 Among them wereadult andchild burialsin atgraves, wooden frames, stone cysts: someof the burials containedthe remains of just oneindividual, in othersan individual hadbeen buriedtogether with his horse.On the basis ofthe distinctive detailsof the
1 S.I.Rudenko, Kulturanaseleniya Tsentralnogo Altaya v skifskoyevremya (TheCulture of the Populationof MiddleAsia in the Scythian Period), Moscow-Leningrad, 1960, p. 5. 2 Y.S.Khudyakov, S.G. Skobelev,M.V .Moroz,“ ArchaeologicalInvestigations in theV alleysof theOrokta and Edigan Rivers in 1988,” Arkheologicheskiyeissledovaniya na Katuni (Archaeological Investigationsin theKatun V alley),Novosibirsk, 1990, p. 120. 3 Y.S.Khudyakov, “ Investigationsin theMiddle Reaches of the Katun River,” Arkheologicheskiye otkrytiya1994 goda (ArchaeologicalDiscoveries of 1994), Moscow ,1995,p. 311. c KoninklijkeBrill NV ,Leiden,2001 AncientCivilizations 7, 1-2 ° 56 Y.S.KHUDY AKOV funeraryrite the objects could be identi ed as belonging to theBulan-Kobin cultureand dated to the1 st and 2nd centuriesAD. 4 Oneof the burial mounds ofthe Hun period, excavatedwithin awholegroup investigated in 1989, stood out conspicuouslyfrom the rest on accountof its low sphericalmound. 5 Burial-mound 10 .Itwaslocated in thenorthern part of the burial-ground. The mound hadgently sloping sides, curvedat the top andwas spherical in shape:it measured4 metresin diameterand 30 cmsin height. Thesurface of the mound wasovergrown with thick grass, moss andpea-shrub or karagana. As the mound wasbeing cleared it waspossible to determinethe shape of the structure. The mound hadbeen made of massive river boulders and pieces of rock. Clearing themound andits crestmade it possible to establish morethoroughly howthe mound hadbeen constructed, the fact that it hada krepida roundits outeredge andan outer layer of boulders and pieces of rock. Under the outer layer there was alling ofsmall pebbles(Fig. 1)that hadbeen strewn over the grave-pit in the centreof the burial-mound: the grave-pit was in theshape of an elongated oval orientedNW-SE along its long axis. Thegrave-pit measured 2 :2 1:1metres.The pit was lled with riverpebbles, £ nebroken stones andsand. Whenthe upper layers of the grave-pit’ s in-ll had beencleared, the cover of the grave-pit consisting ofmassive slate-like slabs and boulderswas revealed. There were two overlappinglayers of these slabs one abovethe other. The lower of the two layerswas supported on thetop endsof slabs forminga stonecyst (Fig. 2). Whenthe lid ofthe grave had been cleared, a stonecyst or burial-chamber was foundconsisting ofmassive slate-like slabs andboulders. Theslabs ofthe stone cystor chamber had been arranged vertically almost right up againstthe walls of thegrave-pit. In some places the space between the slabs ofthe stone cyst and the wallsof the grave-pit was lled with stones, whoselong axiswas along a NW-SE line. Thecyst measured 1 :9 1metres.In viewof the fact that theslabs overthe £ gravehad been tted closeup againsteach other and had been arranged in two layers,the cyst had not lled up with earth.Inside the cyst was a hollow chamber. Thanksto this, manyarticles in thegrave made of organic materials had survived andthe body hadundergone a processof natural mummi cation. Onthe oorof
4 Y.S.Khudyakov, “ ANew Siteof the Hun Period in the Mountain Region of the Altai,” Informatsionnyjbulleten MAIKTsA (InformationBulletin of the : : :/,Moscow,1991,Issue 18, p. 66. 5 Y.S.Khudyakov, “ AMummied Burial of the Hun Period in the Mountainous Region of the Altai,” IzvestiyaSO ANSSSR (News-Bulletinof the Siberian Department of theAcademy of Sciences oftheUSSR), History,Philology and Philosophy Series, 1991, Issue 2, p. 61.