YAKUT PIECED SKIN PRIMITIVE RUG

 

YAKUT PIECED SKIN PRIMITIVE RUG

This Yakut fishing scene could have been recorded in the bronze or early iron age.

The pieced skin rug on the floor of the Yakut fisherman's  conical tent¹ is identical in concept to the primitive pieced skin rugs stitched together by nomads in Central Asia. The rug is probably made from deer skins or reindeer, the fisherman's jacket is also fashioned from softened and stitched animal hides. Sergei Rudenko published an image of a "piece of fur clothing" in Frozen tombs of Siberia The Pazyryk Burials of Iron-Age Horsemen which closely resembles the fisherman's rug and jacket, linking these items and Central Asian pieced skin rugs to the Scythian horsemen.² Apart from the buildings in the background this scene could have been recorded in the bronze or early iron age.

Pieced skin rugs and animal hide products including methods of softening hides are shared by Kirghiz and Yakut. The significance of the continuation of the practice of making pieced skin rugs can be linked back to a time prior to the Yakut moving North into Eastern Siberia and probably pre-dating the early Iron-Age. Kirghiz women in the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan soften the hides³ of Karakol sheep and Yak in preparation for dip dying and stitching pieced skin rugs . Yakut women use similar methods to soften hides, here we see a Yakut women softening the hide of a deer after it's been stripped of it's flesh and dried. The hide is simply softened by applying pressure with the repeated use of a stick over it's surface.

Yakut or Sakha language is firmly rooted in their early history on the steppes further South. Migrating from Olkhon and the region of lake Baikal Northwards to Eastern Siberia. Eventually mixing with Tungusic Evens and Evenki.⁴ Turkic speaking Yakut have assimilated many other words into their language yet retain their Turkic identity through language and other practices.  The practice of reciting epics  like the Yakut Olonko is identical to the Kyrgyz of Kyrgyzstan's proud tradition of the recital of the Epic Manas. Yakut are described as pastoralists like the Kirghiz of Central Asia and the Iron-Age Scythians. Kumys⁵ is a favourite among Yakut at festivals, not unlike Kirghiz of Central Asia who use the same word to describe a type of fermented mares milk.

The image on the right shows a Yakut woman standing on a Yakut pieced skin primitive rug with a display of items used in conjunction with the making and serving of Kumys. She is also wearing traditional tailored animal skin clothing.

Relatively primitive pastoralism.

Nomads and pastoralists have been busily slaughtering animals wild or domestic throughout the ages, making their hides into assorted clothing, bedding, rugs, mats, trappings, shelters, boats, window covers plus many other items. Take a look at the typical inventory of the Scythian animal herd about 2,500 years ago including yaks, horse, large horned cattle, small horned animals, goats and sheep with "slight fat-tails". Scythians hunted wild animals, however this was secondary to their form of "primitive pastoralism". Deer, maral, elk, mountain goats and rams, boars, saiga, antelope, steppe cat, squirrel, sable, otter, ermine, leopard, wolf, roebuck, hare and other ungulates were all unearthed from the icy Pazyryk barrows.⁶

Scythian horsemen kept sheep with "slight fat-tails" which took second place in Scythian economy after horses.⁷ "Primitive pastoralism" practiced by the Scythians , the inclusion of yak and sheep in their herds, the secondary place that hunting took, mirrors the lifestyle of  modern day Kirghiz of the Afghan Pamirs. Yakut not only produce similar animal skin items as the Kirghiz and Scythians, they are pastoralists especially known for breeding horses. A special breed of Yakut horse which can withstand sub zero temperatures sets the Yakut apart from the Evenki and other local ethnic groups.

Yakut Horsemen and Yakut Horses

Historically Yakut share similar ancient burial rituals to the Iron Age Scythian horsemen. Yakut horsemen probably settled in the region around the Lena River of the vast Sakha Republic in Eastern Siberia around the time Iron Age Scythian Horsemen were busy digging out their icy barrows in the Altai mountains. The famed Iron-Age Pazyryk rug, retrieved from the ice and mud by Sergei Rudenko dates from that period.⁸ Yakut burial rituals are similar to those of the Scythians, R.Bravina in a paper for the Arctic Museum discussed recent developments in the study of ancient Yakut burials.

"Some elements of the ritual of burying humans with horses, that is, position of the corpses, number of horses, in-burial installations, orientation to the West etc, show the ancient character of these elements, that were characteristic of the early nomads of Southern Siberia and Central Asia, beginning in the Bronze and early Iron Ages. It seems that horse breeding tribes settled the territory of Yakutia starting in early Iron Age."⁹

Rugs, trappings, bags, cradles and pack covers for sleds were crafted from animal skins by the Yakut and neighbouring Evenki, Eveni and Tungus. Window covers are even fashioned from fish skins by the Evenki. Animal hides used in making pieced skin trappings, rugs and clothing include, reindeer, deer, bear, seal and fish. Also hunted were polar bears and the polar fox.

Conical tents were used by Paleolithic Siberian hunters and favoured by Tungus, Yakut, Evenki and Eveni. Animal skins or birch bark were favoured materials for tent coverings, the Yakut fisherman's small conical tent is covered with straw. Fishing techniques were probably borrowed from neighboring taiga.¹⁰

A favourite animal.

As floor coverings animal skins are not as durable as woven items. Creating intricate patterns is more difficult with animal skins. Clipping  the fur of a hide low would produce an ugly result.  Size of a finished pieced skin rug including the various small pieces of sewn hide is limited, sometimes many small pieces need to be sewn to larger pieces to create a symmetrical rug.

Rudenko unearthed woven rugs which mimic animal skins, they look almost identical to modern Julkhyrs or Tulu.  Woolen cloth with looped pile was unearthed from barrow 2.¹¹ The cloth looks like any looped pile rug woven by nomadic pastoralists today.  Primitive pastoralists had the option to begin weaving their rugs into patterns and shapes which afforded them flexibility in creating custom made items. Floor coverings could still provide warmth and be made to look like a favourite animal. Wool could be dyed and woven into a durable foundation. Size was no restriction and the old way of simply stitching hides together could now be used to stitch long lengths of woven items together. The pile could be clipped low yet still producing an aesthetically pleasing and durable floor covering.

Many varied uses of animal skin items afforded nomads and pastoralists with warmth, shelter and transport, in the form of canoes. To this day nomads and pastoralists create products including rugs from animal hides as well as weaving many varied items including rugs which are facsimile animal hides. It's as if the close bond with the animals that provided so much just can't be broken. Today shaggy floor coverings of all kinds including woven shag rugs and animal hides lay side by side on floors all over the globe, aesthetically pleasing and primitive.

Bibliography

1. Shifting Boundaries: Ice Age Tents http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/Shifting_Boundaries/tents1.html 14/02/11 1:51 PM

2. Sergei I. Rudenko, Frozen tombs of Siberia: The Payzryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen Berkley and Los Angeles University Press, 1970. Illustrations 132 1; E,

3. Dor, R. & Neumann, C. Die Kirghisen des Afghanischen Pamir

Akademische Druck- u. Verlanganstalt, Graz 1978 86-87

4. http://altaic-wiki.wikispaces.com/Manchu+Tungusic+Peoples

5. Sommer. J, Akmoldoeva. B Klavdiya Antipina Ethnographer of the Kyrgyz Spring Hill Press McKinleyville, California. 2002 262

kumuss, koumiss Fermented mare's milk. A drink. Also: " kumuss",  koumuss."

6. Sergei I. Rudenko, loc. cit.59

7. Sergei I. Rudenko, loc. cit. 57

8. Sergei I. Rudenko,loc. cit. 302

9. Bravina. R, Traditional culture of the Sakha peoples according to archaeological monuments in museums of Yakutia http://arcticmuseum.com/ Media Collection Web: 3 February 2011, 3.32 PM

10. Edward J. Vajda http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ea210/yakut.htm

11. Sergei I. Rudenko, loc. cit. Illustrations 134 3; C,

Photograph of Yakut Fisherman used by permission William Brumfield.

"Brumfield Photograph Collection" (http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/print/res/273_brum.html). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-05276 (digital file from original)

For more detailed information on the Yakut and Evenki go to http://www.arcticmuseum.com/

Kochis and Nomad Primitive Rugs

Mohammed Ali described the life of Kochi nomads in Afghanistan in 1958. Ali mentioned that "The number of these tent-dwellers has greatly diminished during the past few years, and is still rapidly dwindling." Fifty years on and the Kochis of Afghanistan still roam freely. Another term Maldari is sometimes bundled in with Kochi or Kuchi . Maldari is primarily a term which describes those involved in animal husbandry and pastoralism, so can describe the way of life but not the people themselves. Maldari [maldary] Animal husbandry, pastoralism¹ A large proportion of Kochi's are Pashtun  sometimes referred to as Gipsy or Gipsy Pashtun.

"A small portion of the population is still leading a sort of nomadic life. The Kochis (as they are called) have no fixed habitat and chiefly live in tents-Ghizhdi. These tents are made of extended lattice work, covered with black felt manufactured from wool, and can be easily taken down, folded up and carried on the backs of the camels, horses, cattle, sheep, goats. The flocks and herds are driven back and forth between the lowland and highland pastures, over routes which they and their ancestors have followed for centuries. In so doing they generally cross international boundary lines, but it is often without objection on the part of the governments concerned. They claim certain grazing rights in pastures which they visit with their flocks, and these rights are seldom disputed. The various tribes wander over definite areas, recognised as their special preserves: but all seek higher districts in the middle of the summer to avoid the heat and pests of the plains, and return to lower level for the winter.

In these migrations they carry with them all their possessions and so they live very simply. A single tent shelters a whole family. During the day time it usually furnishes all the shade to be had, while at night it can be closed to give protection from cold winds.

"It is indeed a fine spectacle to meet a caravan of Kochis moving. Huge shaggy camels lumber down the rocky steeps, followed by donkeys, horses, sheep, goats, and fierce-eyed watch dogs. Among the animals walk the proud Kochis, tall lean, fiery-looking, often carrying rifles on their shoulders. The women, contemptuous of veil, walk stalwartly along with the caravan, some even carrying guns. Young children, lambs, and hens are tied firmly on the top of the luggage.

At night they set up their woven tents, unroll their rugs and set the kettles and cooking pots over their smoky fires. Their only wealth is their livestock. These furnish the staple articles of diet; meat, butter, milk, cheese, curd, and kuroot (dried curded milk). Their wool is spun and woven into cloth for clothing, or is used in making rugs and tents.

This pastoral life, though a difficult one, has many advantages. It is carefree and secure, uniting the advantages of various climates, and affording relief from the monotonous city life in frequent changes of scenes, and never failing-sources of field sports. The nomad, accustomed to hardships, is strong, well built and courageous.

The number of these tent-dwellers has greatly diminished during the past few years, and is still rapidly dwindling. The construction of dams and the creation of new acreage have been undoubtedly, a strong inducement of these wandering tribes to adopt a more settled mode of life."²

1 Shaharani, M. Nazif The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan Adaptation to Closed Frontiers and War University of Washington Press, Washington 2002. 274

2 Ali, Mohammed. M.A  A new Guide to Afghanistan Kabul 1958. 113, 114, 115

Bachtiari Zagros Mountains

In 1976 Shusha Guppy followed the Bachtiari through the Zagros mountains and narrated the documentary People ofThe Wind. A second documentary was shot in 1994 titled Nomaden - Der lange Treck der Bachtiari directed by Mehran Bozorgnia. The hardships suffered in the long trek over the Zagros mountains give us some insights into a nomadic existence in a difficult and challenging environment.

Arab nomads of Qataghan were making the journey to summer pastures around Badakshan in North East Afghanistan. By the 1960's the more wealthy of these nomads were making their journey to the mountains by air. 1 1. Barfield. T The Central Asian Arabs of Afghanistan University of Texas Press 1981 122, 123

Shusha Guppy Migration of the Bakhtiari Tribes... by kykourosh06

Related Post

Kurdish Tulu - Badani

Kurdish Rug

Primitive long piled rugs in Turkey and Iran include Geve, Siirt, Tulu and Gabbeh. These are broad terms with many regional derivatives in use. For example Hopan is a term used to describe a textile that is neither a carpet nor a Geve and is called a “Kilig” in Usak-Esme-Ahmetler village. 1 Categorising every colloquial variation would be an arduous task.

Beginning in the late 1960’s Prof. Dr. Neriman Görgünay studied textiles in Eastern Anatolia with a special interest in long piled textiles. In 2005 she published the book Pioneer of the Knotted Carpet, Geve / Tülü and SimilarTextiles.2 Shaggy pelt like rugs have been produced over a widespread area from Turkey to the Altai mountains and probably pre date the short piled knotted carpet. Görgünay illustrates an example where a 75 year old Kazakh woman from Turkistan was living in Agri in 1968 and still weaving Geve, she had learnt how to weave Geve in Turkistan when she was a teenager.3

Kurdish rug multiple wefts

In South Eastern Turkey bordering Iran Kurdish weavers produce a long rug called Badani, the pile is long unspun sheep’s wool. A few years ago I came across a small rug resembling the long Kurdish Badani’s. The small rug has long unspun sheep’s wool and up to thirty weft shots between rows of knots and could have been used with either side up. The ends are completed with slit woven tapestry. The rug was exported from Iran to Australia and at the time labeled “Bakhtiari”.

Rhombus Kurdish Rug

Görgünay describes the Kurdish Badani as “Geve,a textile resembling sheepskin with a hairy surface that can be referred to as imitation pelt. Known by regional names of Tulu, Tuluce, Hirsek and Gebe. In Yugoslavia-Kosova and Bulgaristan called Yanbolia and feathered.” 4

On page 86 of Oriental Carpets From the Tents, Cottages, and Workshops of Asia 5 Jon Thompson presents an image by photographer Nasrollah Kasraian. Two of Kasraian’s images shot in the early eighties, of Kurdish nomad women near Maku in North West Persia are frequently referenced in print and online. An almost identical small rug can be seen in the background of Kasraian’s images. The small Kurdish rug was probably woven in the 1970’s .

Kurdish Badani’s are woven in South Eastern Turkey and Maku is just across the border in Iran. Görgünay 6 illustrates an example from Bitlis just north of Siirt. Our rug is only 147 cm  x 84 cm (4’ 10” x 2’ 9”) unlike the long Kurdish rugs from Turkey. John Wertime 7 discussed the probability that Bakhtiyari nomads in the Zagros mountains did not weave heavy piled rugs because of the difficulties in making the long journey through the Zagros mountains, from yaylaq to qishlaq. Wertime also mentions that the Bakhtiyari's wove long piled Gabbeh like rugs. Hamid Sadeghi and Karin Hawkes 8 in Gabbehs: Stammesteppiche der Bergnomaden am Zagrosdescribe “blanket-like” rugs with “multiple groundwefts” the same as our rug. If you watched the documentary in the previous post you will understand why large Persian carpets would be impractical to carry through the Zagros mountains. In the second video if you look carefully you will see a small rug with long unspun pile (when the donkeys and horses are being unloaded). It becomes obvious that small rugs of this size fit neatly over the “saddle” covers on the donkeys.

Kurdish Rug multiple wefts

These small rugs were probably produced by both the Kurdish nomads in the Maku area and further south by the Bakhtiyari's traversing the Zagros mountains.

Back Kurdish rug

1 Prof. Dr. Görgünay, N. Pioneer of the Knotted Carpet, Geve / Tülü and SimilarTextiles Textiles.Izmir 2005 118

2 Prof. Dr. Neriman Görgünay. loc. cit.

3 Prof. Dr. Neriman Görgünay. loc. cit. 9

4 Prof. Dr. Neriman Görgünay. loc. cit. 117

5 Dr Thompson, J. Oriental Carpets From the Tents, Cottages, and Workshops of Asia New York 1993

6 Prof. Dr. Neriman Görgünay. loc. cit. 33, 34, 35

7 Wertime. J Oriental Rug Review December January 1992 from website T Cole  http://www.tcoletribalrugs.com/article14loriBaktiari.html

8 Sadighi, H. & Hawkes, K. Gabbehs. Stammesteppiche Der Bergnomaden AmZagros Berlin1991 (Primitive Rugs of the Zagros Mountain Nomads)

Kurdish rug North West Persia