The study of the Mordovian costume: the spiral as a means of shaping the "puloker" bevel

Shigurova Tat'yana Alekseevna ORCID: 0000-0001-5342-8471 Doctor of Cultural Studies Professor; Department of Cultural Studies and Library and Information Resources; National Research Mordovian State University named after N. P. Ogarev 3 Serova str., Saransk, 430010, Russia shigurova_tatyana@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction.

The features of the traditional costume are formed simultaneously with the ethnogenesis of the people. Preserved for centuries as a symbol of the "memory of culture", the unique elements of the costume can sometimes be used even when the meaning and original meanings of the symbol have already been forgotten and interpreted differently by the wearers of the costume. The interrelation of the concepts of the past, present, and future is not in doubt today, especially with regard to the history and fate of the people, their cultural heritage, and the understanding of visual and artistic images of the past.

According to historians, "the Mordovian people are one of the ancient peoples of Eastern Europe, ... the first pages of the history of the Mordovian tribes proper should be read in the monuments of early iron dating from the first thousand BC to the beginning of the first thousand AD" ^{[5, p. 4]}. The formation of the people took place in the specific conditions of the territory of the Middle Volga region, which had no natural barriers for foreign, unfamiliar tribes, who brought their own cultural characteristics, ways of dressing, protecting the body from the effects of harsh climate, including their own system of body decoration and costume. The impossibility of isolation from the outside world was reflected in the peculiarities of the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Middle Volga region by such qualities as openness and the ability to dialogue with an unfamiliar culture.

The study of the history of the Mordovian costume is an important task of humanitarianism, which allows people to understand the origins of their origin, the complexity of historical processes in their fate. This determines the author's close attention to the phenomenon of the pullover in previous publications: to the reasons for its appearance and the material from which it was made (leather and metal) (see: ^[18]; ^[19]). This article presents an attempt to determine how widespread was the idea of helicity in the metal plastics of the Mordovian tribes who lived in the VIII–X centuries AD in the southern territory of the Oksko-Sursky interfluve (according to the artifacts of the Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky, Elizavet-Mikhailovsky burial grounds of the XVIII–XI centuries AD), which techniques of creating the Moksha mound became the basis of its formation. It was important to clarify that the concept of spiral came into Russian from the French "spirale – the same in Latin spiralis from spira "twist, curl" ^{[15, p. 735]}, there is no authentic term in the Mordovian languages. Therefore, the term "spiral" is used in the article in accordance with the modern understanding of the meaning of the word as a widely known form.

The main part

In accordance with the stated theme of the work, we rely on the study of artifacts from Mordovian burial grounds, in particular those stored in the Morshansky Historical and Art Museum named after P.P. Ivanov and presented in the diaries of P.P. Ivanov's research of medieval monuments of the Morshansky region (Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky, Elizabeth-Mikhailovsky burial grounds of the XVIII-XI centuries AD), as well as Lyadinsky and others . The period of the decoration's appearance is interesting, so we pay attention to the typology of the nakosnik, presented by R.F. Voronina in the book "Lyadinsky antiquities: from the history of Mordovia-Moksha: the end of the IX – beginning of the XI century." The author classifies pullovers as tubular braces and identifies three types, differing in minor changes in the internal structure and the number of hair strands wrapped with a strap, wrapping the strap with wire, or wrapping from above "another strap wrapped tightly, turn to turn, thin, round in cross section (dragged) bronze wire" ^{[3, p. 11]}. A brief description is given by A.E. Alikhova: "The braid is braided and wrapped spirally with a strap wrapped with flat silver wire" ^{[1, p. 16]}. Unfortunately, there are still no special studies devoted to the emergence of the puloker form, its modernization, complication and variety of creation techniques.

An important characteristic of a thing is its peculiar shape, which organizes the materials used and is itself determined by the way the product is created. According to R.V. Zakharzhevskaya, "the field of clothing is an area of technology and design, where the main role is played by the relationship between the texture of the fabric, the means and methods of its processing, which ensure the perfection of the necessary form. The concept of a costume includes clothes as a basis, a framework necessary for the development of an imaginative idea" ^{[6, p. 270]}. The shape of the knuckle puloker connected various categories: material, meaning, content into a single image, which became a symbol of the Moksha woman for a millennium. The shape of the hairstyle, which binds the hair into a single integrity, corresponded to the vertical of natural hair growth, was the most common initial method of combing among many peoples in accordance with ancient human ideas about the need to preserve the inviolability of hair.

The technical development of metal by man in the territory of the Middle Volga region is recorded in the archaeological antiquities of the Fatyanovo-Balanov culture of the II millennium BC. Spiral jewelry was found among the copper jewelry of the Fatyanovites, who were forced to save on metal: rings, earrings, eyeglass pendants (see Photo 1).

Photo 1. Fatyanovo jewelry (from the book by V.A. Yurchenkov "Entertaining archaeology".

The Primokshan archaeological culture ("the turn of the III – II thousand BC" to the XVII century BC), which covered "in addition to the Moksha basin the territory of the Middle Pooch" at the Paevsky settlement, preserved a sample of spiral jewelry: one (of two) bronze pins "... the upper end is flattened and transformed into spiral curls" ^{[2, pp. 161, 153, 157]}. The researchers name the "coiling of a spiral of wire" as a technology for creating metal jewelry of the Abashev culture. The women embroidered their clothes with the resulting spiral threads ^{[9, p. 62]}. Abashevsky and log archaeological sites have preserved the existence of jewelry made in a peculiar form, which today is commonly called spiral: temporal rings of 1.5–2 turns, pierced tubes, point-shaped pendants, as well as spiral hairpin and hryvnia The Sabanceevsky treasure, the ends of which are "twisted in the form of five-turn spiral discs" (see: ^{[11, p. 155]}), (see Photo 2).

Photo 2: A spear, a bronze pin and a hryvnia from the Sabancheevsky treasure of the Bronze Age.

E. Kupriyanova, comparing Abashevsky jewelry with Sintashta, Petrovsky and Alakul jewelry of the Southern Trans-Urals and Kazakhstan, evaluates "the method of their manufacture by folding from a metal rod or wire" as "the most primitive" ^{[10, p. 41]}. In the meager conditions of home production, the simplicity of making jewelry could not be accidental. Among the combinations of materials, shapes and technologies, it was selected as the only true one, which became ideal and tested many times, convenient to use, and therefore repeatable without distortion from generation to generation (unconsciously or mechanically). The simplicity of the shape of bracelets, rings, pendants, complemented by the neatness and elegance of the details, made it possible to achieve a special artistic expressiveness of the product, which contributed to the canonization of the extremely natural shape of the circle in jewelry, striving to repeat itself many times. According to P.A. Florensky, "the canonical form is the form of the greatest naturalness, something that cannot be simpler than that" ^[16]. It is known about the spread of spiral bracelets, pins, rings and spiral ornaments in Scythian jewelry; Gorodetsky culture reveals the continuity of the language of wire helicity in decorative and applied art.

The products of local craftsmen in the form of a spiral curled in several turns from gold and bronze wire (temporal pendants, bracelets in 2-3 turns, penetrations) were found among the artifacts of Andreevsky Kurgan (II century AD). Their wearing, according to P.D. Stepanov, "was a universal phenomenon" ^{[14, p. 41]}. It is also necessary to note the ornament on some buckles of the Andreevsky Kurgan, which included straight or oblique transverse notches imitating the winding of the product [Ibid., p. 40]. The availability of raw materials and the simplicity of the manufacturing method made the spiral shape of ancient Mordovian jewelry so popular that, according to archaeologists, a spiral temporal suspension with a bipyramidal weight on a rod wrapped with thin wire has become a symbolic ethnic sign of belonging to the burial of Mordovia since the beginning of the I millennium AD (see Photo 3). It should be clarified that some scientists (P.D. Stepanov) considered the spiral shape of jewelry typical for Moksha jewelry, others (A.E. Alikhova) – characteristic of both Moksha and Erzya jewelry. The further development of this form by the end of the 1st millennium AD is closely related to the desire of the master to increase the number of "turns of the spiral": "Over time, the number of turns of the spiral increases, the rod thinns and greatly lengthens (up to 10 cm)" ^{[1, p. 15]}.

Photo 3. Pendants with a weight (from the book by R.F. Voronina "Lyadinsky antiquities ...").

In the ninth and tenth centuries, changes in the temporal suspension manifested themselves in a further increase in the "degree of helicity". "The rod and the weight of the suspension are greatly lengthened, the number of turns of the spiral increases" ^{[5, p. 58]}. The decoration fell out of use in the XII century.

In the archaeological Mordovian monuments of the VIII–XI centuries AD, there is a wide spread of products made using spiral tubes, such as hats, earpieces, necklaces, sewn products on clothes, shoes. For example, spiral piercings were necessarily present in most burials of the Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky burial ground as an element from which a head corolla in several rows (4-5), breast necklaces, and shoe jewelry are made up. It is known that muzzle women always wore beads gathered in several threads around their necks. At least three strands had women's necklaces of the Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky burial ground. So, in burial No. 89, a necklace was found in which "bronze spiral tubes made of semicircular wire" were strung between 3-4 glass blue and yellow beads ^{[7, p. 37]}. Spiral tube jewelry sewn on leather women's shoes is becoming very popular. It "was located on the instep of the leg and consisted of four tubes or spirals arranged in a row along the leg… From this decoration, covering the leg in the ankle area, there were two narrow straps with bronze spirals strung on them" ^{[1, p. 20]}.

A variety of hryvnia was very popular among women's jewelry. A. E. Alikhova considered the type of wire hryvnia made of silver dart to be the earliest: "The simplest of them consists of a round rod slightly thinned to the ends bent in the form of a hook. At some distance from the ends, the hryvnia is wrapped with a narrow bronze strip in four turns" ^{[1, p. 16]}. The ends of the hryvnia were usually wrapped with wire, which resembled a method of tying with thread to secure the edge, magically enhancing the quality of the product. In the IV – early V century, twisted (torn) hryvnia appeared, imitating the actions known to a woman with a twisted thread in the processes of spinning and weaving. "The torn hryvnia from the ancient Mordovian burial grounds of the 1st millennium AD are made of a round or faceted dart, which was twisted in a hot state, which caused a screw-like cutting to appear on its surface" ^[13]. A. E. Alikhova reported the following about the hryvnia "with a boat lock": "In the burial grounds of the IX –X centuries of this type, hryvnia is usually wrapped with thick wire. Similar hryvnia are found in the Lyadinsky burial ground and in Tomnikovsky. This type of hryvnia has become widespread in the interfluve of the Oka and Volga rivers near Mordovia and Muroma. It should be noted that hryvnia similar in shape are also known in the Lucin burial ground" ^{[1, p. 17]}. The decoration of other types of hryvnia wrapped with wire is repeated, for example, the "mushroom–shaped" hryvnia, common among Mordvins at this time: "The hryvnia itself is wrapped with wire or ornamented with cutting" [Ibid., p. 17]. In the burials of the Kuryukovo-Kuzhnovsky burial ground, the tradition of spiral design of hryvnia is traced. For example, in burial No. 190 "There is a bronze ring-shaped hryvnia on the neck, half wrapped with a semicircular wire..." ^{[7, p. 66]}. Thus, there is a regular desire of a woman to wrap hryvnia with a wire in several turns.

Among the bracelets, spiral bracelets were the most popular in the second half of the I millennium AD: "At the end of the VIII, and maybe at the beginning of the IX century ... spiral bracelets became widespread as female jewelry" ^{[1, p. 18]}. Based on the material of the Oxford burial grounds, M. F. Zhiganov confirmed: "Spiral bracelets made of a thick semicircular tourniquet in cross section occupy an important place ..." ^{[5, p. 59]}. Their number in individual burials of the Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky burial ground was not limited to one copy, but could reach up to three. So, in burial No. 193, "On the ulna bones there are two bronze spiral bracelets made of a triangular plate with nine turns" ^{[7, p. 67]}. In the Introduction to the book by P.P. Ivanov "The material culture of the Middle Tsninsk Mordovia of the VIII-XI centuries." The abundance of polyvitkov jewelry is repeatedly emphasized: "Women wore spiral bracelets in 8-10 turns on their hands" ^{[8, p. 10]}.

Noting the predominance of spiral rings and rings "made of semicircular wire in cross section" in Mordovian monuments, M. F. Zhiganov claimed that they appeared by the "V – VI centuries. (Armiyevsky burial ground, No. 12) ... they were widely used in the next three centuries (the burial grounds of Serpovsky, Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky, Senior Kuzhendeevsky, etc.)" ^{[5, p. 56]}. A. E. Alikhova suggested that spiral rings were "the most common decoration" ^{[1, p. 21]}. The abundance of spiral rings presented in the Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky burial ground is confirmed by the following examples: in burial No. 193 "On the phalanges of the hands there are three bronze spiral rings made of thin round wire in eight and five turns" ^{[7, p. 67]}. Several spiral rings were found in burial No. 216: "On the chest, on the right side, a bronze spiral ring made of round wire in six turns was placed… On the left side ... there is a bronze spiral ring made of round wire in ten turns… On the left side, in place of the phalanges of the left hand, there is a bronze spiral ring made of round wire with nine turns" ^{[7, p. 76]}. In burial No. 86, a spiral ring with 5 turns was also found on the chest.

The abundance of spiral-shaped metal jewelry of a Mordovian woman, such as: temporal pendants–earrings, hryvnia, clasps, piercings, bracelets, rings, pendants on clothes, sheathing on shoes – convinces that in the VIII-XI centuries. the spiral-shaped method of shaping becomes an indicator of the originality of medieval culture preserved in the archaeological materials of Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky, Elizabeth-Mikhailovsky, Lyadinsky and other southern burial grounds of the Mordovian people.

Within the framework of this study, the task is not to establish the origins of the spiral tradition among the Mordovian people. As already mentioned, the territory of the Middle Volga region did not have natural borders (mountains, sea), which would serve as a barrier to the penetration of tribes and peoples migrating to the Volga region, who carried with them their own cultural characteristics, ways of dressing, protecting the body from the effects of harsh climate, including a specific system of body decoration and costume. The impossibility of isolation from the outside world could not but affect the peculiarities of the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Middle Volga region, manifested in its openness and ability to interact with other cultures. Since ancient times, the Mordovian tribes have absorbed everything new, perceived the best practical skills necessary for life and adaptation in the surrounding space, customs, terminology, forms of clothing and jewelry, methods of making objects. The history of the jewelry business confirms that "the regions of the Middle and Lower Kama region played a significant role in the history of the tribes of the central strip of Eastern Europe in the Early Iron Age. Especially in the Pianobor period (III – II centuries BC – III century AD), the technique of casting from non-ferrous metals and jewelry art achieved significant development here. In the jewelry business, a spike is beginning to be used, with the help of which the parts cast in molds were combined into complex jewelry (a set technique)" ^{[5, p. 36]}.

Researchers of Mordovian antiquities have repeatedly mentioned that Mordovian craftsmen processed all new samples, developing them in accordance with their own aesthetic taste and practical use. A. E. Alikhova traces in the inventory of burial grounds of the VII – XI centuries. along with Mordovian elements, two groups of jewelry indicating close contacts of the local population with Murom, merey, Livs, as well as with the southern peoples. She highlighted spiral-shaped ornaments as the elements that bring Mordovian things closer to the ornaments of the Finno-Ugric peoples. As an example, she cites a frontal corolla made of spiral threads, spiral bracelets and rings, hryvnia, which were often wrapped with wire (see: ^{[1, pp. 30-31]}).

The tradition preserved a variety of simple ways to create elements of clothing of the Mordovian people, including the most ancient ones – wrapping, tying, fastening of unstitched pieces of fabric on the body. Thus, waist, loincloth clothes and jewelry appeared, the practice of wrapping the legs with onuchs, and from above with wraps or belts. D.V. Selyun reconstructed the method of spiral wrapping the leg with a leather belt, which was originally wrapped with silver wire. "In burial No. 55 of the Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky burial ground, frills from the composition of the funerary female gift were preserved. Because the frills were away from the main source of decay, and also because they were wrapped with silver wire, their leather base was preserved entirely. Each frill is a single separate narrow belt ... and not two straps attached to the back of the shoe..." ^{[12, p. 77]}.

The existence of the tradition of spiral wrapping of thin flat silver wire around the frills of shoes is also confirmed by the artifacts of burial No. 215 of the Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky burial ground: "Around the lower ends of the tibia, the remains of shoes are narrow straps wrapped with thin flat silver wire" ^{[7, p. 75]}. At this time, the technique of lining belt frills with rectangular clips begins to be used in parallel. In 207 burials, "Shoe windings made of narrow straps lined with rectangular clips were found at the ends of the tibia bones" ^{[7, p. 72]}. There was also a "headdress: a bronze corolla with silver clips", "the remains of a belt parietal cord with a silver tip, overlaid with bronze rectangular clips", as well as "A chest pendant necklace consisting of two rectangular clips fastened with a belt for putting on the neck" [Ibid., p. 72].

It is known that up to the middle of the twentieth century. in the traditional Mordovian costume, the girdling of clothes in several rows along the hips (but not less than 2) was preserved. A similar tradition was found in medieval monuments: "Around the lumbar part there is a belt belt wrapped twice, clearly decorated with bronze plaques, rectangular-toothed-rounded shape, ornamented with a complex pattern" ^{[7, p. 67]}. An understanding of the uniformity of the role and meaning of wrapping as a method of shaping, wherever it is used, is seen in the 202 female burial of the Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky burial ground, where "a narrow strap overlaid with bronze rectangular clips (a fragment of the straps from women's shoes) was used as our jewelry" ^{[7, p. 70]}. Similar examples confirm the similarity with the combination of bands of elastic wrapping around the leg and spirally wrapped belts from the bottom up.

It is known that the positive result of previous female costume creation activities affects the subsequent repetition of this experience. A woman who was regularly engaged in the manufacture of clothes, who perfectly mastered the skills of spinning, weaving, sewing products, decorating with embroidery, relied on the familiar and familiar processes of working with thread. The durability of the products depended on the strength of the thread, achieved by repeated twisting of the yarn. In the religious and symbolic world of medieval Mordovia, man's faith in the patronage of the gods to spinners was preserved: the Mordovian "goddess of fate, After all, ava" distributed threads to people, the length and strength of which corresponded to the duration of their earthly existence and happy family life ^{[20, p. 45]}. The idea of a spiral is present in the visual code of the ornament of ancient Mordovian embroidery. The well-mastered and proven technology of working with thread in everyday life was later transferred by the woman to a new material (metal), from which she learned to make a kind of thread – wire. Up to the middle of the twentieth century, Mordovian embroiderers used silver or gold-colored metallic threads to decorate clothes, such as gold braid, gold lace, gold embroidery, braid, braid, tinsel (see Photo 4).

Photo 4. Embroidery of the female headdress of the Mordvinian moksha baban pango.

According to A.Ya. Flier, "culture is always a repetition of some actions, and more or less standardized in a technological sense" ^{[17, p. 24]}). An analysis of archaeological materials (Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky and Elizavet-Mikhailovsky burial grounds of the VIII–XI centuries AD) shows that the shape of the scythe was created by the activity of a woman who wrapped a braid with a leather belt previously wrapped with wire. As a result, an asymmetric shape organically appeared, repeating the braided braid. Each regularly repeated, individually performed braiding by a woman could differ from the previous one or include minor changes. However, this spiral-shaped method of shaping has created a new element of a female headdress, characterized by decorative asceticism, conciseness of expressive means, rigidity and clarity of lines (see Photo 5).

Photo 5. Nakosnik puloker (from the book by R.F. Voronina "Lyadinsky antiquities ...").

It can be argued that the appearance of a new shape of the bevel is explained by the existence since ancient times of the tradition of spiral shaping, which actually consisted in twisting / wrapping / wrapping. The authentic way to create an element of a woman's headdress depends not only on the level of development of technology and production practices, natural resources, but also on the socio-cultural requirements of society, which influenced the creativity of a woman. The indisputability of the strong relationship of the puloker's nakosnik with tradition is justified by the integrity, the indivisibility of medieval culture, for which religious values were unshakeable, the symbolism of the mythological worldview of the people living according to the rules of human conformity to a social group. According to A.Ya. Gurevich, medieval man "realized the world, rather, as a whole, parts of which are connected by symbolic analogies" ^{[4, p. 244]}.

The tradition of the most ancient methods of creating clothes by repeatedly enveloping human actions performed a utilitarian function of preserving human health and contributed to its adaptation in harsh natural conditions. The existence of the wrapping/wrapping canon corresponds to the canonical character of medieval art. The appearance of a new material made it possible to use metal for fixing and decorating clothes, for additional human protection, which did not violate the expediency of usefulness, reliability, proven for centuries and fixed in the memory of culture as a traditional spiral-shaped method of shaping, which added aesthetic expressiveness to the costume (see: ^{[18, p. 4]}).

Conclusion.

As a result of the study of the artifacts of the Kryukovo-Kuzhnovsky, Elizavet-Mikhailovsky burial grounds of the XVIII–XI centuries AD with the involvement of the source and methodological base of Russian science (A. E. Alikhova, R. F. Voronina, M. F. Zhiganov, P. P. Ivanov, V. V. Stavitsky, D. V. Selyun, etc.), it was found that the idea of a polyvitkov spiral is fixed in various types of jewelry of the Mordovian people of the VIII–XI centuries AD, such as a temporal pendant, a piercing, a frontal corolla, a hryvnia, a necklace, bracelets, rings, shoe jewelry. In addition, it is represented in the canon of shaping the elements of a traditional costume, recorded in the variety of waist clothing and the multiplicity of girdling of a traditional Mordovian costume, in the abundance of threads of chest necklaces, the rules for protecting (twisting) legs from adverse weather conditions, in the ornament of metal jewelry and embroidery.

The spiral technology of making wire jewelry was popular among Mordovian women in the VIII–XI centuries AD, it was used in the manufacture of women's hats, in the design of women's hairstyles and became a way to create a unique Moksha puloker. The shape of the mower corresponded to the way it was created, the cultural canon and tradition. Its specifics reflect the peculiarities of an ethnic group that lived in harmony with nature, religious values, in the continuity of an ancient tradition, in an effort to preserve and develop its own distinctive culture.

The accumulation of knowledge on the history of the traditional costume of the Mordovian people allows us to move forward in revealing complex and contradictory cultural, everyday, ideological processes in the ethnic history of the peoples of the Middle Volga region.