The Pazyryk culture in the area of today’s Altai Mountains apparently consisted of various cultural areas. Therefore, the various clothing styles have indeed similarities, but also show peculiarities in detail. The graves of Pazyryk were known for their excellent preserved permafrost finds, among which are many objects made of organic material (fabric, leather, wood, horn…). The presentation shown here dates in the late 5th and 4th centuries BC. All components were found in the eponymous grave Pazyryk II, which hid some of the richest and most impressive artefacts of the Pazyryk culture. In this grave mounds, the elite of the nomads of the Altai was buried, including various women with multiple sets of clothing, from which we have borrowed the templates for this presentation. Whether the individual components have been ever worn in this combination is unclear. Since presentations of the Pazyryk culture usually take only those findings into account, where precise collocation of clothes and equipment directly related to the dead, so in unequivocal combination, can be verified, some grave goods scant attract interest. Usually only those representations are brought to mind that will be published and disseminated through graphic reconstructions. The compilation shown here allows to take the existing garments and possible variants into account and another new perspective on the fashion of the Pazyryk culture and counteracts the false impression of alleged uniformity and homogeneity in the clothing of ancient nomads.

Here’s the way to the equipment details of this representation.

Literature:
Sembach, Klaus-Jürgen und Gottfried von Haeseler (Hg.) (1984): Gold der Skythen aus der Leningrader Eremitage. München: Staatliche Antikensammlung und Glyptothek. Polos’mak, Natal’ja und L. Barkova (2005): Kostjum i tekstil’ pazyrykzev Altaja. Novosibirsk: Infolio. Rudenko, Sergei I. (1970): Frozen Tombs of Siberia. The Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd.