Shoulder Ornaments in the local version of the Moksha Women's Costume.

Shigurova Tat'yana Alekseevna Professor of the Department of Cultural Research and Library Information Resrouces at N. P. Ogarev's Mordovia State University 430010, Russia, Mordovia region, Saransk, Serova str., 3 shigurova_tatyana@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The traditional female costume of the Mordovian people of the mid-nineteenth century reflects a close connection not only with the peculiarities of peasant life, labor and economic activity of the carrier, but is a source of information about the complex ethnic history and processes of ethnogenesis. According to researchers, the semantic content of the "continuity of ethno-cultural traditions", ethno-cultural interactions is concentrated in the traditional jewelry of the Mordovian, Mari and Chuvash peoples ^{[8, p. 1]}. The abundance of jewelry of the women's costume of the Mordovian people of the XIX century, "amazes with the variety of materials and forms", being divided into head, bevel, breast, neck, wrist jewelry, waist, dorsal cross-shoulder ^{[3, p. 138]}.

In the structure of clothing, the shoulder belt is especially important. According to R. V. Zakharzhevskaya, "the human body by nature itself is divided into sections, the shapes of which suggest certain placements of the covers" ^{[9, p. 260]}. The shoulder belt, which performs an important supporting function, is most often used as a basis for fixing clothes on the human body. In the costume of the peoples of the world, shoulder-length elements of clothing are known. The earliest existence of shoulder accessories was found in the Assyrian costume (the history of Assyria – from the XIV century BC – 605 BC): "A fringed baldric is an indispensable detail of royal and priestly vestments, which served as a badge of distinction in the costume of noble Assyrians: wide and long – for high officials, narrower and the short one is for the royal servants" ^{[13, p. 22]}. Shoulder elements were widely distributed from the XVI century in the male court costume, the secular noble costume of the European nobility, in the ceremonial costume of Russian nobles, in the military clothing of European peoples, for example, in the costume of Russian archers.

The purpose of this article is the historical reconstruction of an element of material culture, previously unknown in science, complementing the cartography of the traditional clothing of the Mordovian people with the shoulder decoration kavlalks (armpits); introduction of new terminology into scientific circulation; comparison of the details of the decoration that existed in the Moksha women's costume of the mid–nineteenth century with similar decorations in other local versions of the clothing of the Mordovian people; definition technical and technological features of the shape of the shoulder decoration, the aesthetic specifics of its decorative decoration, as well as the origins of its appearance.

The relevance of the study is determined by the absence in scientific publications of the XX – early XXI century of information about the existence of the cross-shoulder decoration kavlalks and information about its specifics. Until now, there have been no studies comprehensively characterizing the features of jewelry of the local version of the women's costume of the villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye of Insar county and analyzing in detail the cross-shouldered women's jewelry kavlalks, its functions and decor. 

The paper attempts to solve the problem of filling gaps in knowledge about the unique complex of the traditional costume of Moksha women of the Insar district of the Penza province of the mid-XIX century, including the original cross-shoulder decoration kavlalks, which did not survive until the beginning of the twentieth century, and therefore is still not known to specialists. The study of the artifact will be useful for the reconstruction of the technical and technological specifics and functions of the shoulder decoration.

The conclusions of the work are based on the application of general scientific methods, as well as the interpretation of written sources of the archive of the SBI "RGO", which is an invaluable historical and ethnographic heritage, which has not yet been published. The analysis of the detailed answers of the clergyman Peter Sektorov to the well-known IRGO questionnaire completed in the 1850s is supplemented by the reliance on systematic, comparative-historical and art criticism approaches, which ultimately contribute to the identification of the form, manner of wearing, location and functions of decoration, and in addition, the features of manufacturing and decoration.The decorations of the traditional Mordovian costume have attracted the attention of researchers since the end of the XVIII century, but for the first time mention in the scientific literature about the shoulder straps of the neck (around the arm) and about the eponymous complex back decoration is found in the work of N. I. Sprygina, published in 1928.

The author reports on the use of two pairs of box-patsat towels with decorated ends as waist clothing on the sides of a woman in the costume of erzi in the north-western part of Temnikovsky district: "The second pair of box-patsat is outweighed by the shoulder straps. The decoration of the ozhanuchka consists of a strip of brocade sewn on a solid bast frame and sheathed with shells and coins on the edges, suspended on the back with straps made of shells and beads or made of woolen braid; from this strip, with the help of a braid, a square of kumach descends to the lower part of the back, in the upper part also having a rigid base and decorated with ribbons, copper rattles, tokens, chain and shells" ^{[14, p.38]}. Thus, we find that N. I. Sprygina distinguishes a complex strap-shaped accessory that performs the function of fixing side towels and back decoration on the wearer's body. The author also mentions another form of shoulder jewelry that existed in the Moksha women's costume of Ruzaevsky and part of the Bednodemyanovsky counties in the form of a sling – kichkr (curve) – "a strip of beads, copper chains, coins and copper buttons along the edge, worn obliquely over the shoulder and on the side connected by a pendant of chains and beads" [Ibid, p . 41].

In the first post-war decade of the second half of the twentieth century, a thorough study of the traditional clothing of the Mordovian people was continued. V. P. Yezhova considered a local variant of shoulder jewelry in the costume of the Tengushevskaya erzi: "The Ozhanuchka represents red woolen straps worn on the shoulders and crossed on the back, on which cowry shells and beads are tightly sewn" ^{[7, p. 151]}. In addition, she noted the mandatory availability of additional towel pendants with ribbons sewn on them, which were thrown over the straps in the armpit area; described in detail the complex set of back ornaments of the Erzya woman. N. I. Hagen-Thorn characterizes the shoulder decoration of the women's costume of the peoples of the Volga region as "a sling over the shoulder, ... worn on the left shoulder under the right arm", considering its spread among many peoples as a sign of cultural community ^{[5, p. 99]}. However, she did not mention the presence of a sling in a Mordovian suit. V. N. Belitzer in the book "Folk clothes of the Mordvins" reported on the cross-shouldered paired decoration of the Mordvins-moksha: a sling in the form of paired closed ovals kichkor (curve) (Stary Drakino village, Alkino Narovchatsky district of Penza province)

and kreskal (crosses) (village Kochetovka of Narovchatsky district, Shadym of Insarsky district of Penza province), as well as about the existence of similar in the villages of Furnaces and Sleds of Nizhny Novgorod province. They wore jewelry on both shoulders, crossing each other on the chest (see: ^{[3, p.126]}). According to V. N. Belitzer, the decoration of the ozhanuchka appeared "in the Tengushevskaya mordvins-erzi under the influence of the neighboring more numerous mordvins-moksha" [Ibid., p. 126].

Bandages were recorded by researchers in the female costume of many peoples of the Volga region: Tatars "khasite", Chuvash (tevet), Mari (arshchyash, kyshke vui), southern Udmurts (b utmar, kalo butmar, Kamali, butmar-Kamali) ^{[10, p. 283; 15, p. 230-236]}.

In the formal typological classification of ornaments of the peoples of the Volga region, developed by A. Zadneprovskaya, shoulder ornaments are allocated to the 3rd department. Here, the shoulder straps and back ornaments are combined; in fact, all the Mordovian shoulder ornaments known to her, ozha nuchka, kreskal, kichkor, are designated by the concept of "shoulder sling" (see: ^{[8, p. 8]}). It should be noted that in the solid edition of the encyclopedia "Mordovia" there is also information about the shoulder ornaments of the Mordovian people, which "are mainly inherent in moksha (kichkor, kreskal, chresty) and erze of the Tengushevsky district (ozha nuchka)" (see: ^{[11, p. 431]}). The Museum ethnographic collection of the I. D. Voronin Moscow Art Museum, replenished with samples of the decorative and applied heritage of Mordovia, which were collected for a long time by the museum staff, has a collection of negatives by M. E. Evseviev, transferred to the museum in the 30s of the twentieth century after the death of the scientist.

The album of photographs published for the 140th anniversary of the educator-educator of the Mordovian people M. E. Evsevyev contains unique pictorial sources on which the existence of shoulder ornaments in the Mordovians is recorded (see: ^{[6, p. 146]}).

Photo 1. A bride among young people. Tambov province, Temnikovsky district.

The discovered written information of the NGO "RGO" must be compared with the pictorial materials of the scientist, educator M. E. Evseviev. In addition, there was an opportunity to see the abundance of women's jewelry in visual sources posted on the Internet, where the beginning of the archaeological study of the pagan burial ground of the village of Levzha of the XVII - XVIII centuries was recorded, the excavations of which were carried out in the summer of 2021.

        The strap shape of the shoulder decoration and the shape of the sling. The uniqueness of the local version of the traditional female costume of the Moksha population living in the villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye of the Penza province, the study of which was initiated by the author of the article earlier (see: ^{[18, pp. 91-105]}), is most convincingly represented in the decorative decoration, independently made by the wearer of the clothing.

The materials used were home-made fabrics, hand-spun and dyed woolen threads, as well as ribbons, braid, beads, buttons and other products sold in the markets. An addition to the specifics of the folk clothing of these villages is the previously unknown shoulder decoration kavlalks:"the complete outfit of young women and adult girls also includes a kavlalks, shaped like an axis of a figure, decorated with many buttons, many small horizontal buttons and multicolored, which is worn on the shoulders" ^{[2, L. 4]}.

The location of an additional technologically complex accessory in the shoulder area of the suit, combined with an abundance of breast jewelry, confirms a person's understanding of the importance of highlighting it as a compositional center of the female image and attracting the attention of others.  The shoulder girdle in the structure of clothing carries the greatest load, determined by a variety of techniques for securing body coverings: throwing (skins, fabrics), tying with something. The objective properties of the material (strength, reliability, strength) from which the accessory was made – rope, braided cord, determined the requirement of culture in additional retention of the cover, additional protection of the body from cold, wind, and, consequently, providing favorable conditions for human life.    First of all, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that in the costume of Mordovian women there were two forms of shoulder ornaments, differing in cut, location on the camp, functional purpose and decorative design.

The forms of jewelry can be defined as a sling and straps, this is how they were designated at the first mention of N. I. Sprygina. We believe that clarifying the meaning of these concepts quite reasonably fixes the functional difference of accessories.

The form of the decoration of the sling corresponds to the description in dictionaries as – "Belt, ribbon over the shoulder" ^{[16, p. 501]}; or – "a strip of expensive fabric, loosely thrown over clothes. At first they wore a sling over one shoulder, slung diagonally on the opposite side and tied with a bow, then they began to put a sling over the body and tie a bow on the sides" ^{[1, p. 280]}.In the Moksha women's costume, a sling, as defined by N. I. Sprygina, is "a strip of beads, copper chains, coins and copper buttons along the edge, worn obliquely over the shoulder and on the side connected by a pendant of chains and beads" ^{[14, p. 41]}. This definition corresponds in form, manner and place of wearing, decorative transformations to the ornaments of Moksha women kreskal, kichkor. Sometimes Moksha women wore two sashes at the same time, which crossed in front and served as an additional source of decoration, voicing the costume.

Photo 2. Mordva-moksha. Penza province. Insarsky county. Kon XIX – beginning . XX century .

The second form of shoulder decoration, which is defined by N. I. Sprygina as straps, corresponds to the description in dictionaries: "A wide belt, a strip of fabric or a rope thrown over the shoulder for pulling or carrying weights" ^{[16, p. 337]}; "a belt or braid over the shoulder, with which they carry (pull) somethingsomething heavy, or just some object, a bag.." ^{[1, p. 236]}. Such a form of decoration (we see it on the central figure of the bride, in the photographs presented by M. E. Evseviev) was characteristic of the women's costume of erzi Temnikovsky district. The decoration, called ozha nuchka, was a complex basis for additional fastening of side towels and a back element (decoration) on the body (see: photo 3. The bride among young people. Tambov province, Temnikovsky district, S. Standrovo. ^{[6, p. 143]}.

In the villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye of the Penza province of Sectorov, a similar form of accessory was found, called kavlalks, consisting of two straps: "the handle ... has the shape of an arc" ^{[2, L. 4]}. The straps (according to Sectorov, handles in the shape of an arc) were connected on the back, like the straps of a modern backpack. The rings of this outfit were distinguished by their strength, they were made of a wide hemp braid, known for its resistance to deformation, capable of performing the function of fastening, binding, which ensured the formation of the costume, complemented its capabilities. Two rings of braid were placed on the shoulders of the wearer, they were sewn in the back area, which formed the shape of a cross on the back. In the women's costume of Insar county, kavlalks straps were also used to wear towel-shaped pendants. Thus, the technology of creation, the functional purpose of ozha nuchka and kavlalks has a single character, which fundamentally distinguishes the straps from the sling. Features of the shoulder strap-shaped decoration to avlalks.

           The form to avlalx is determined by the functional necessity of the thing, which additionally continues the formation of the local complex.

The activity of the masters was determined and directed by the consciousness of a person who perceives the world around him in accordance with the final values aimed at achieving and preserving life, freedom, happiness, love, characteristic of all people. The side towel elements of the suit served as additional protection of the body from the adverse effects of the external environment, performing a utilitarian function of preserving the health and life of a woman. The ethnic identity of the complex is expressed by the uniqueness of the combination of various ornaments: breast, waist, shoulder, partially having analogies in the sets of other local variants of the Mordovian (Moksha and Erzya) people.

First of all, it is necessary to take into account the preservation of details and features in traditional clothing that are associated with peasant life, the specifics of labor activity in the conditions of subsistence farming. Circumstances of living in the forest-steppe zone of the Oksko-Sursky  The Volga region required daily physical activity from men and women. Shoulder straps were widely used to carry cargo. Pre-revolutionary photographs captured peasants of the Middle Volga region, going on foot on a long journey, on a pilgrimage, to the market, carrying their luggage attached to cross-shoulder straps. The Mordovian woman repeatedly appeared in photographs of the turn of the XIX – early XX century, which convinces her of her active participation in public life, free movement on the territory of the Volga region without any restrictions, and the use of costume accessories. To transform the means of carrying cargo, widespread in Russia, into the basis of shoulder jewelry, additional reasons were needed to actualize the value of the clothing element in culture, but it is important to note the utilitarian purpose of this form of accessory.

Photo 4. Pilgrims going to Sarov. onethousandninehundredfour

Photo 5. The wanderer in the Seraphim-Diveyevsky monastery. 1904 Another reason for the existence of shoulder straps in a suit was the fastening 

  in the camp of sleeveless clothing. The theory of the study of the costume highlights the shoulder support constructive belt as the basis for fixing clothes on the human body. An additional protection of the human body in the harsh climate of the Middle Volga region was the layering of clothing, which included sleeveless elements or with short sleeves, which did not restrict freedom of movement, allowed us to engage in active economic activity, which we observe among the population of Temnikovsky county  Tambov province. In the local version of the women's costume, a women's shirt with short sleeves, additionally fastened on the shoulders "nangun panar" (upper shirt) and a vest "sermav shubeyka" (a painted vest made of printed canvas) have been preserved here. In addition, it is known that jewelry was attached to the shoulder straps on the back in the area of the shoulder blades and lower back. Belt decorations were a separate element of the costume. Researchers of the Mordovian costume noted the similarity of the ozh nuchka "even in details with ... the decoration of murom" ^{[12, p. 63]}, therefore, it can be argued that the origins of the ozh nuchka decoration are in the distant past.The only difference between the jewelry of ozha nuchka and kavlalks is the absence of P. Sektorov's references to the back details of the jewelry that existed in the costume of Moksha women of Insar district.

But it is possible that the back detail was overlooked by the clergyman or by the nineteenth century it had already been lost here. It is known that in other Moksha villages of Insarsky, Krasnoslobodsky counties up to the middle of the twentieth century, women wore back ornaments, for example, ftala pulo (brush behind), kopor tsekane (back brush), parkhti kotf (brocade fabric), etc. from ribbons, buttons, sequins, cowry shells, beads, tokens. Since there is no information about them in the studied written communications of P. Sektorov, we do not mention them in this work.

The revealed proximity of the elements of the costume of ozha nuchka and kavlalks is explained by the historical processes of mass migration of the Mordvins in the south-east direction. The Moksha villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye of the Insarsky district of the Penza province were founded no later than the XVII century by peasants from under Temnikov, who owned these lands on the rights of hunting grounds and onboard "grooming": "South of Perkhlyai ... were the possessions of the Mordvins of Temnikovsky district, where the Moksha settlements of Suzgarye, Levzha, Mordovian Pishlya were subsequently formed" ^{[4, p. 44]}. The rapid population growth was associated with the continued influx of the Erzya population from Temnikov (Bayevo, Norovatovo, Shiromasovo, Shoksha), from Arzamas to the south, where the southern border of the Russian state was being strengthened during this period, serif features appeared (see: ^{[18, pp. 93-95]}).

The original name of the jewelry kavlalks translates as "armpits" (see: ^{[17, p. 52]}); it has a clear internal form, since it concretizes the semantics of the name of the jewelry by indicating the location of its wearing in the shoulder area around the arm. In addition, the term clearly expresses the idea of culture about the features of the space that a person focuses on: the habitable and mastered concept of the bottom (alo, alks). The simplest qualitative spatial reference points of the bottom (alo, alks) and the top (vyare, prya) are a necessary contrast in the picture of the world of the Mordovian people, objectively characterizing its qualities. The spatial representations of the Mordovian people were most often expressed in terminology related to the definitions of the territory closest to human life (elements of clothing, a hut, a yard, the structure of a rural settlement).

Thanks to kavlalks, additional vertical directions appear in the suit, created by attaching brushes and paired towels to the straps,. As a result, a volume is created that increases the real dimensions of a woman, which reveals the specifics of ideas about the individual values of an idealized female image corresponding to the national character. The handmade product of the Mordovian people enriches the aesthetic expressiveness of the traditional costume, deliberately complicating the visual impression of the wearer created by the movements of the brushes and fringes. P. Sectors showed amazing attention for a man, recording in detail and comprehensively the features of the decoration: "On the back side of both kavlalks rings, 2 red brushes are visible and 1 green between them.  And under the arms and the front side of 1 red. The most extreme brushes have both rings to the front, with one orange. From each red brush consists of 4 tinsel threads, in the green ones – orange, 4 more red paper threads, and on each brush it is made from one woolen thread of another with a corolla-colored brush" ^{[2, L. 4]}. The scrupulously made clarifications of the author of the text allow us, two centuries later, to carry out not only a theoretical understanding, but also a practical reconstruction of the unique Mordovian decoration, which did not survive until the twentieth century (unfortunately, even the memory of it was lost until visual sources were discovered). The combination of individual brushes and fringe under the woman's hand during her movement created a rhythmic swaying that attracted the eyes of others: "... a woolen fringe of 4 black lobes and 2 red threads was sewn near the green brush at the ends of the hanging arc. And thus, from this fringe and green tassels, as it were, one brush is formed, which, during the dress of a girl or a woman in kavlalks, is visible under her hand" [Ibid., l. 5].

The desire to attract the attention of others to a young woman by aesthetic means is explained by her important role in ethnoculture. The combination of real living conditions and the way of life of the people demanded from the woman (wife, mother, mistress of the house) daily strenuous physical and spiritual activity, good health, endurance, responsibility, high moral qualities. It should be recalled that a woman in Mordovian society, along with a man, participated in family and social customs and rituals, she was assigned to perform separate social and family religious rituals.

  The abundance of expressive means used for making kavlalks was represented, in addition to brushes and fringes of multicolored threads, by cowry shells, beads, buttons, tinsel purchased on the market, which eventually became a sign of the high status of the wearer of the costume. Considerable financial resources were needed to purchase various materials on the market. So, for example, according to P. Sektorov, "no less than 4000 are sewn on a good kavlalks, which are valued by the muzzle with more than 2 rubles in silver" ^{[2, L. 5]}. The shells were tightly sewn onto the hemp braid not only on the back in the area of the shoulder blades, but also under the arms: "The shells of the neck and brush serve as an ornament for the back side of the muscles under the arms and are slightly visible from the front" ^{[2, L. 4]}. The peculiarity of the kavlalks decor was manifested in the alternation of sewn tassels made of multicolored threads and shells connected in pairs: "Up to 5 woolen brushes are sewn to each ring and with round handles (lengths of one and a half vershka, others of a quarter vershka), wrapped with tinsel threads and in 5 places with a thin woolen red cord, on each handle it is sewn on the side the edges have 4 edges (in 2 places, 2 edges with pointed tips together) and at the ends of two edges, one small, copper, smooth button" [Ibid., l. 4]. The created image of a woman's costume undoubtedly corresponded to the ideal of the idea of beauty in this culture. The meaning and types of clothing elements, a variety of jewelry complemented each other.

Thus, we explain the existence of the accessory of the kavlalks strap form in the Moksha women's costume of the villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye of the Insar district of the Penza province by the influence of a similar decoration of the ozhanuchka in the costume of the Erzya women who migrated in the XVI – XVII centuries from the Temnikovsky district. The functions, cut, location in the suit, decorative design using brushes, cowry shells, beads coincide. The similarity is confirmed by all the most important technical and artistic-stylistic properties of jewelry. Decorative design, the use of a variety of materials (brushes and fringes of multicolored threads, cowry shells, beads and buttons purchased on the market, tinsel and braid) emphasized the high status of women. The aesthetic function of the decoration explains its spread in the festive version of the costume.

As mentioned above, written evidence of the resettlement of the Erzya population in the XVI – XVII centuries in the south-east direction convince of the possibility of preserving many elements of traditional Erzya clothing in the new territory of residence. They turned out to be in demand, they remained (at least) until the middle of the nineteenth century, although they received a new Moksha name, which is confirmed by written sources of the SBI RGO. Archaeological excavations in 2021 of the pagan burial ground of the XVIII century of the village of Levzha recorded an abundance of cowry shells, beads in the area of both hands and in the shoulder area, which were the place of wearing kavlalks. The analysis of the features of the local version of the traditional women's costume and shoulder jewelry testifies to the complexity of the ethnogenetic processes taking place in the Oksko-Sursky interfluve of the XVI – XVIII centuries.

A comparative study of shoulder strap jewelry and shoulder straps in the costume of the peoples of the Middle Volga region will reveal the fundamental typological difference between them from each other. The originality of the local version of the Moksha clothing, the amazing diversity of the results of the creative activity of the Mordovian woman speaks of the undoubted importance for cultural institutions of further study of the unique heritage of the Mordvins (Moksha and erzi): here lies the untapped potential for the development of museum, exhibition and tourism practices.