Women's Jewellery of the Kimeks according to Archaeological materials

Research Article

Abstract

Archaeological materials serve as an important basis for reconstructing the clothing of people who lived in the Eurasian steppes during the Middle Ages. Research of burials from the Ob-Irtysh interfluve has provided a wealth of material for understanding various aspects of the ancient population's life, including such an important component as clothing. Costume is an important source of our ideas about the past, as it reflects the cultural traditions, worldview, and social status of its owners. Based on the study of 17 female burials, information has been compiled on medieval jewellery, its location, the materials used, decoration, etc. These burials were studied in the Ob-Irtysh interfluve, i.e., where the territory of the Kimek Khaganate is located. The Kimek women's costume was characterised by a variety of designs, with the greatest concentration of jewellery in the head area. The basis of decorative elements consisted of toreutic items, especially solid cast jewellery used as independent objects. Pendant fasteners, temporal pendants, mirror fragments and decorations apparently associated with headdresses, such as pins, finials and decorative elements, were often used. The observed variability in forms and materials indicates the absence of a single standard. Kimek women's costume of the 9^th–11^th cc. is a unique example of the synthesis of the utilitarian and symbolic functions of decorative elements, made mainly of metal. One of the key features is the vertical arrangement of decorations, located along the axis from the head to the waist, most often on the left side of the body. Of particular interest are items decorated with ornithomorphic images. The head area is the most richly decorated, featuring headdress finials, pins and braid decorations with images of mythological and real birds (phoenixes, griffins and waterfowl). Toreutics predominate over other types of jewellery, while beads, for example, are less common and are found only in a few burials (the largest number of them is discovered in one of the burials – 180 pieces). Pendants, plaques, rings and bracelets with floral and geometric motifs were found in the chest, waist and arm areas. Some items could be attached to clothing, carried in handbags or suspended from a belt. All these materials allow us to reconstruct the complex structure of the costume and its ritual and social significance. It reflects information about gender, age and social status.