MEN’S BELTED GARMENTS IN SCYTHIAN LANDS

Abstract

The belted garments are a necessary part of costume of Scythian peoples along with headwear, shoulderwear, footwear. All of the blocks include different items, which possess both utilitarian and symbolic functions. The subject of «Scythian belted garments» had already been addressed in the general studies of ancient costumes, as well as separate papers. Sergei Yatsenko analyzed the clothes of European Scythians in the context of costume history of those peoples, as he believes that different costume components represent features of ethnic affinity. However, most of the researchers believe that the formation of different costume elements is mainly the result of practical needs. Serhii Shamenkov, while analyzing the belted garments, analyzed its name — anaxiridis. According to him, these are the long, tight pants. However, this is the subject of debate, as Andrii Biletskyi — the translator of Herodotus’ «Histories» translated it as «wide pants». According to Mr. Shamenkov, two types of the Scythian belted garments were most spread: tight pants, and non-vide pants which were not tucked in shoes. The third type — wide pants made of thin fabric. The researcher assumes that the sprang technique was used for crafting tight pants. In reality it was probably used for crafting the webbing, which decorated the pants (lampasses on side stitches etc.). As for crafting the pants, the simple option might have been in order: two trouser legs joined to the diamond-shaped gusset. Serhii Shamenkov created a large database of Scythian depictions. However, not all of them can be used per se. Some of them are schematic and grotesque. The ancient artists were working within the traditions common to the Classic Greek art. According to my observations, the Scythian used long pants with tightened trouser legs, which were tucked in shoes, as well as slightly wide non-tucked pants. Both of the types had one scheme: each trouser leg was made of two fabric pieces with one more between them, making a so-called bottom. The toreutics pieces sometimes depict characters in vide pants and it is artistically emphasised that the clothes are made of light fabric. Another type of belted garments are the tightened pants with the stitch on the back. These clothes in the form of two tubes which become visible from the shin to the hip, were made of broadcloth, felt or skin. Such pants are depicted on the so-called helmet from the Perederieva Mohyla barrow. Here we also see another item of clothing: boots-stockings, which some researchers view as footwear. Said items are identical to those from the Ak Alakha gravefield in Altai. The man’s belted garments in Scythian lands were studied by complex and comparative analysis of written, archaeological and artistic sources as well as ethnographic materials. The most informative are the Scythian depictions on the decorative items. Those include finds from the following barrows: Soloha, Kul-Oba, Voronezhski, Haimanova Mohyla, Chortomlyk and Tovsta Mohyla.