Female headwear of Tien Shan population in the Mongol epoch

Purpose. Female burials of the Mongolian time included not only pieces of accompanying stock but also some headwear known as « sides », « boktak », « bogto », etc., which are described in histori cal written sources and scientific literature. Such items of headwear have also been found in different regions of Kyrgyzstan. We provide an overview of women's hats of the Mongolian period, which were worn on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, and introduce new finds discovered in recent years into scientific circulation. Results. The headwear found had the shape of the cylinder manufactured from birch bark with expansion in the top part. In burials, these cylinders were found near the left and right humeral bones, on a thorax, near the skull or separately from it, or in the area about knees. Bokka 's have been found only in burials of adult women. In most cases they had some rhombic birch bark details. Some of them were sheathed by beads and were decorated with bronze round and thin plaques. The rhombic elements had traces of seams noticeable on the edge of the birch bark. Bokka' s were also accompanied with plentiful jewelry including beads and some remains of decorative fabric. They could remain either from the headwear or from the cloth covering the deceased. Bokka remains found in recent years expand our knowledge about the area of such headwear distribution in Kyrgyzstan. They were found in several burials during the Kan-Dobo archaeological expedition of the Kyrgyz-Turkish University «Manas» in the Issyk Kul basin, at the burial ground Boz-Adyr, which presents burials of different historical periods. The findings consisted of three parts: a birch bark cylinder, a trapezoid bell and a flat closing cover. We also found with them a bronze decoration of a headdress in the form of a shamrock, some fragments of wooden sticks, fabric remains, small beads of white color, a sink of a cowry and some birch bark rhombic elements. We can find similar headdresses described in works of medieval travelers who visited the Mongols. According to these data, a bokka was a round headdress made of rods and bark as a long cylinder with a wooden cross-shaped element attached at the end. A bokka was attached to a hat and stretched down to shoulders. This headdress was covered with precious silk fabric, a black woolen veil, a red adobe taffeta or some simpler fine fabric. A twig decorated with drake tails, peacock feathers and jewels was attached over the top. While a woman was walking, this headdress produced some smooth ringing. A similar female headdress was imprinted on one of the slopes of Bogdo-Uul mountain in the Ikh-Tengeriynam district of the Tola River valley in Central Mongolia among other rock paintings. Researchers identified different types of bokka's while analyzing archaeological materials. The remains of the female headdresses found at the Boz-Adyr site can belong to a Mongol-Tien-Shan type, with a pommel at the top. Conclusion. Studying such a peculiar type of headwear as a bokka doesn't lose its importance and is one of topical issues in the archaeology of the region. Judging by these headdresses, it is possible to define the social status, age and the gender of the buried person. The bokka's found on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic are important material sources which prove the prevalence of such headwear in the mountainous steppe of Eurasia.