Abstract: Questions of the origin of the shamanic costume constantly remain in the focus of attention of researchers who have studied the phenomenon of shamanism of the Buryats and Mongols. Since material artifacts are the most stable object that has preserved semantic content in a symbolic form. At various times, M. N. Khangalov, Ts. Zh. Zhamtsarano, B. E. Petri, S. V. Ivanov, E. D. Prokofiev, T. M. Mikhailov, G. R. Galdanova, M. Eliade and many others addressed this problem. However, the final understanding of the process of emergence, formation and development of the Buryat shaman costume has not been achieved. At the moment, there are several opinions of venerable scientists on this issue, which not only differ, but often directly contradict each other.   The author has made an attempt to understand this topic. The works of the predecessors, as well as the manuscripts of M. N. Khangalov on shamanism from the State Archive of the Irkutsk region are studied. Along with religious aspects, socio-cultural, economic conditions of the formation of Buryat shamanism were studied, the mutual influence of Turkic-Mongolian, Tibetan archaic cults was taken into account. Methods of historical analysis are used. In the process of work, it became clear that it is impossible to put a final point on this issue because of the very large number of layers of various cultural, religious, ritual and everyday traditions that the shamanic cult of the Buryats and its main attribute - the shaman's costume have absorbed. However, the author obtained new results in the semantics of individual attributes and the shamanic costume as a whole. Two main hypotheses of the genesis of the shaman costume are given: a) transformation of the armor of Mongolian warriors, b) evolution of animalistic imitation vestments. The author's position is stated on each of these theories. The semantic meaning of the "skeletal style" in the design of the shamanic ritual cloak is given.

Abstract: In the late XIX – early XX centuries, the Buryat people were struggling to survive due to numerous social problems that had accumulated over time. The absence of basic sanitation, low cultural level and moral standards, widespread alcoholism led to mass infectious diseases and issues in reproductive health. The established menacing situation is described by the researchers, medical personnel, and representatives of the European academic science, who worked in the Baikal Region at that time. The goal of this article consists in giving an outlook on the situation from the perspective of Buryat society. The research employs the analysis of previously unpublished materials stored in the State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia and State Archive of the Irkutsk Region. This article is first to publish the notes of the little-known Buryat researcher Mangutkhan Malasagaev. He lived his entire life in the Baikal Region, was engaged in the traditional peasant activities, and thus can be considered a true representative of the Buryat people. His elementary education and lively analytical mind allowed him keeping records of his own observations, and thus leaving a range of manuscripts that describe and analyze various aspects of life of the Buryat people. The article presents his observations on social problems of the Buryat society.

Abstract: The object of this research is the Buryat shamanism – a complex system of religious views, norms, rituals and traditions of Buryat people. The scientific records demonstrate that the features of animalism, zoolatry and totemism are characteristic to the traditional religion of Buryats. The subject of this research is the animalistic elements in the costumes of Buryat shamans. The volume of accumulated knowledge is extensive and diverse, mainly contains the descriptions, classification by the grounds of origin, symbolism, use in rituals; but at the same time, the origin of the subject of research as a whole has been poorly studied. Using the analysis of genesis of animalistic elements in shaman costumes, the article makes an attempt to determine the background of animalism and zoolatry in the religious views of Buryats, leaning on retrospective of evolution of the Buryat ethnos, origin of the traditional beliefs of Buryats, and the processes on cross-cultural diffusion with other ethnic groups that influenced the formation of Buryat shamanism.