Typology of tamgas - ownership marks of the Khakas people

The article is aimed at creating a typology of tamgas - the ownership marks of the Khakas peoples in the XIX and the early XX centuries. The research novelty lies in the fact that tamgas have never been studied before. The author uses his own field materials, as well as linguistic, museum and published data, and applies an integrated approach, which includes the typological, comparative historical, and descriptive methods. As a result of the research, tamgas are classified into three main types: traditional, adopted (borrowed), and personal (family) ones. Traditional tangas are further subdivided according to their shape into geometric, zoomorphic, anthropomorphic, ornithomorphic, totem, and object ones. Personal (family) tangas were the Cyrillic initials of the owners’ first and last names. Adopted (borrowed) tangas taken from stone monuments, steles and rocks were not widely spread. In the early XX century, personal (family) tangas eventually replaced the traditional ones and became a prevailing type.