Introduction

This work is a logical continuation of the article "Yenisei mummies (archaeological sources and their anatomical expertise)", published in the same journal in 2003 (Vadetskaya and Protasov, 2003, pp. 36-47). It will focus on materials from the later Tatar (Tesinsky) Novye Mochagi mound, since there are practically no plaster masks preserved in other similar mounds.

The mound is located 12 km to the east of Sayanogorsk near the village of Kala (Khakassia). In 1983, it was excavated by the head of the Middle Yenisei expedition of the LOIA of the USSR Academy of Sciences, N. Yu. Kuzmin. The burial chamber (dimensions: 11x12 m), unlike dozens of other burials of the same time, is arranged not in a pit, but on the surface of the ground. It is built of turf and surrounded by a fence. The internal walls of the structure are covered with birch bark, wooden blocks and framed by vertically placed logs. In the center was a log house measuring 7.5 x 7.5 m, with a height of at least 50 cm. In it, apparently on shelves, over 80 mummies were placed, which fell and lay randomly, but tightly on top of each other, without any earthen layers. Mostly intact skeletons have been preserved, but 23 mummies are represented either by skulls and scattered bones, or parts of the bones in the joint. Between the turf walls and the log house, the remains of at least 30 more people were found, mostly skulls lying one at a time or in piles. The log house was broken by robbers, so two assumptions can be made about the origin of the remains outside it: either whole mummies were buried in the log house, and parts of them were buried behind the log house, or, more likely, the skulls along with a few bones were thrown out of the log house by robbers.

The physical conditions that occurred during the burning of the chamber contributed to the preservation of clay, bones, and some other organic matter. A layer of brown grass mass up to 1.5 cm thick has been preserved under the skeletons and on them in some places. It also covers some of the long bones of the arms and legs. The skulls are trepanned and also filled with grass. On the outside, they, along with the cervical vertebrae, were smeared with clay, and on top of the clay, they were covered with a thin layer of gypsum. Several clay eye sockets have preserved bluish-green glass beads that mimic pupils. On some clay and plaster faces there were traces of paintings made with red and black paint (see: Kuzmin N. Yu. Report on the work of the Sayanogorsk detachment of the Sredneenisey expedition on the territory of the Znamenskaya irrigation system in 1983-Archive of the Institute of Chemical Engineering of the Russian Academy of Sciences, f. 35, op. 1. 1983, d. 146, p. 2-17, and also: [Kuzmin, 1985, p. 216-217].

The thin and cracked plaster masks fell to pieces during cleaning. Therefore, fragments of plaster masks were removed from about 50 clay skulls, and two skulls were fixed together with clay. N. Y. Kuzmin handed over almost all the anthropological material to the Department of Anthropology of the MAHE, but the 20 skulls that are best preserved are:-

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1. The skull of skeleton 13 with a piece of plaster on top of a clay eye socket. Photo by N. Yu. Kuzmin (photo archive of IIMC RAS, 3087, N 537).

2. The skull of skeleton 2 with pieces of plaster mask over the eyes and over the mouth. Photo by N. Yu. Kuzmin (photo archive of IIMC RAS, 3087, N 536).

The clay was preserved, along with the collected fragments of masks were left in the Institute of Chemical Engineering of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

N. Yu. Kuzmin, based on the initial impressions received during the excavation of mummies, published his interpretation of the funeral rite [1985a, p.48; 1991, p. 153; Kuzmin and Varlamov, 1988, p. 146-155]. But he hadn't even unpacked the skulls and masks themselves. Only 13 years after the end of the excavations, before leaving for Germany, N. Y. Kuzmin reported on both of them and suggested starting their study. By this time, only four clay-lined skulls were relatively well preserved; they were published (Vadetskaya, 1999, fig. 85, 2; 2004, p. 302, Fig. 1, 3, 4, 6; Vadetskaya and Protasov, 2003, Fig. 3 - 6]. The rest of the skulls were crushed; clay partially covered the fragments of eight skulls. The initial appearance of three more clay-modeled skulls with pieces of plaster masks is captured in three field photographs, but now the skulls are not identified even from the most successful photographs of two of them (Fig. 1, 2), so it is impossible to use the available anthropological definitions when working with them [Mednikova, 2001, pp. 214-220, Fig. 2-4], as well as to clarify whether the fragments of masks belong to specific skulls. But in the course of anatomical and chemical examination, fragments of skulls with clay gave more information than whole skulls. The first was conducted to determine the physical condition of the bodies during their transformation into mummies. The second was designed to study the composition of clay dough*.

It is established that clay models the skulls of skeletonized corpses, i.e. after the natural decomposition of tissues, but with partial preservation of dried remains of tissues in the external parts of the cranial canals, in the eye sockets, vertebrae, etc. The sequence of head reconstruction based on the skull was determined: filling the frontal part of the skull with grass, and the mouth, nose, and eye sockets with clay, and smearing clay on the outside of the entire skull, including the cervical vertebrae [Vadetskaya and Protasov, 2003, pp. 41-46]. In the plant mass that filled the brain cavity of the skull, reed was identified [Ibid., Fig. 13; Vadetskaya, 2004, p. 307] or a mixture of willow, birch and mixed grass branches with cereals.

It turned out that grass, wool, and lime were added to the clay dough as a binding component in small quantities. The latter was introduced most often in the form of separate pieces to destroy organic matter preserved in hard-to-reach parts of the skull. As a rule, clay without a binding component was used for parts closed from external influence (Mednikova, 2002, p. 256; Vadetskaya, 2004, p. 307). The reconstruction of five skulls was probably made from clay from one deposit. It is beige in color, with a gray or pink tint. The sixth mask is made of red-brown clay, the main natural dye of which is goethite (Yegorkov, 2002, p.236). This clay differs not only in color, but also in composition (Mednikova, 2002, p. 256) and is obviously extracted from another deposit.

In parallel with the study of clays covering skulls, chemical analyses of gypsum masks were carried out [Vadetskaya, 2004, p.307]. The results of their comprehensive research are discussed in this article.

* Medical examination was performed by a VA pathologist. Chemical analyses of clay were performed by E. Y. Mednikova, gypsum and paints by L. S. Gavrilenko, and botanical definitions were made by M. I. Kolosova.

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the article. Prints on the back of the masks allow you to determine the appearance of the mummy's face, on which the mask was applied. Two types of mummies (without a mask and in a mask) reflect two rituals that hide the population's ideas about the living and dead deceased, i.e. about physical death and its actual recognition.

Sources and methods of research

The remains of plaster linings, together with clay, are best preserved on two skulls. Images of both skulls have been published. Plaster facings are called masks, although gypsum and clay cover the skull on all sides and the neck.

The skull (N 34) of a 25-35 - year-old woman was modeled with 1.0 - 1.5 cm thick clay and then covered with a 2 - 4 cm thick layer of gypsum. The eyes and lips on the plaster mask are closed. On the cheeks are barely noticeable patterns in the form of zigzags with shamrocks and circles at opposite ends. Between the eyes, above the bridge of the nose, is a fragment of a red figure [Vadetskaya, 1999, fig. 85, 2; 2004, Fig. 1, 4; Vadetskaya and Protasov, 2003, Fig. 6; Mednikova, 2001, p. 219, fig. 4, b].

On the skull (N 46) of a 35-year-old male, the thickness of the clay layer was 1.5 cm. The clay still has a red stripe 1.5 cm wide, crossing the face in the area of the lips, and in the temporal region - part of a black circle. Plaster is applied over the clay; its remains are found in the area of the right eye, temple and upper part of the cheeks. The plaster face is painted with red ochre, which is also found on the side of the gypsum layer adjacent to the clay, i.e. this paint could be painted both on the clay surface and on organic material (skin or fabric) that has decomposed and been lost over time. A thin layer of cinnabar covers the damaged ochre layer in several places; a circle is drawn on the temple in black charcoal paint. Thus, the paint layer of the mask was updated, and the painting on the mask and the mummy's head generally coincides [Mednikova, 2001, p. 219, Fig. 2; Vadetskaya and Protasov, 2003, fig. 4; Vadetskaya, 2004, fig. 1, 6].

Remains of clay and gypsum are found on three more destroyed skulls. Pieces of a red plaster mask cover the eye, part of the cheek and lips on the right side of the clay-modeled skull (N 45) of a man. In the area of the jaw, red paint is visible under the plaster on clay (Mednikova, 2001, p. 219; Vadetskaya and Protasov, 2003, Fig. 8, 2). Pieces of the same mask are found in the eye, cheek and lip area on the left half of the clay-modeled skull (N 33) of a 40-49 - year-old male. Red paint is visible in the eye slot on clay [Mednikova, 2001, p. 219, Fig. 2].Gypsum painted with red paint was preserved on the clay eye socket of the skull (N 47) of a 15-19 - year-old woman [Ibid., p. 219]. Thus, the five turtles were wearing a red mask. Four of the skulls were identified as male, while the fifth belonged to a young woman. One white mask with a red painting matched the woman's skull. Under the three red masks, the clay covering of the male mummies was also painted red. Another 50 skulls were removed from plaster fragments during excavations. They are mostly small, fragile, 1 - 5 mm thick. Fragments of 47 masks were glued together, mostly eyes with parts of cheeks, lips and pieces of necks. Very few fragments of the facings of the forehead, nose and ears. Only 12 plaster facings-masks were restored by half or slightly more.

Materials of 15 masks (two of them were on skulls), including more than 100 individual fragments, were examined in the laboratory of Physical and Chemical research of materials of the Department of Scientific and Technical Expertise of the State Hermitage Museum. To reconstruct the technology of making masks and determine their features, the structure of fragments and the composition of the materials used, methods of applying finishing and paint layers, applied pigments, organic additives were studied. Special attention was paid to the reverse surface of the masks and their imprints, which helped to get an idea not only of technological processes, but also of some characteristic ritual actions in relation to the dead. The revealed traces of restoration, which consisted in applying new finishing and paint layers, allowed us to conclude about the duration of the ritual of farewell to the deceased.

The studies were carried out using a variety of methods: microscopic, microchemical, infrared Fourier spectroscopy and Fourier microspectroscopy (senior researcher S. I. A. Grigorieva), X-ray fluorescence spectral analysis (senior researcher S. S. V. Khavrin). The taxonomic affiliation of plant particles (wood, bast, pith) was determined by microscopic analysis based on anatomical features of the structure of cellular elements and tissue fragments, including fragments of the epidermis (skin) of shoots and leaves (V. N. S. M. I. Kolosova). Their results made it possible to compile a very detailed description of each mask (prepared for the combined catalog of Tagar and Tashtyk masks). This article publishes data from two masks*.

Mask N 50 (15. 5x14. 5 cm). The forehead, nose, and part of the left cheek are missing. The thickness of the walls is 1-5 mm, in the area of the lips-5-12 mm. The material is white, dense, solid-

* Drawings of these masks were made by L. A. Sokolova. It also glued together parts of all other masks.

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Figure 3. Mask N 50. Graphic image (a-d) and photo from the front (e), a-from the front; b - from the back; c-profile from the outside; d-profile from the back.

Fig. 4. Mask N 43. Graphic image (a-e) and photo (e-k), a-from the front; b-from the right; c - from the reverse side; d - profile from the outside; e - profile from the reverse side; d-right half; g-back side. a pattern marked with a sharp object and painted with cinnabar; h - brush marks on the finishing layer; i-prints of two (rectangular and oval) pieces of fabric against the eye, as well as stitched pieces of fabric on the back of the mask; k-teeth prints on top of the plaster lining.

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weak, fragile. The bottom layer is approx. thick. 1 mm, main - from 1 to 3 mm, finishing - less than 1 mm. The lips are painted red ochre; on the cheeks there is a pattern - a solid circle with two shamrocks on a long stalk; on the chin there is a shamrock, above the bridge of the nose-a triangle. There is a black horizontal stripe on the neck fragment. On the reverse side, you can see prints of herbaceous plants and rough relief seams, and opposite the eyes - plaster linings 5 mm thick with prints of a piece of cloth, opposite the mouth-an overlay with tooth prints (Fig. 3). The main components of the test are gypsum with traces of calcium carbonate (1%), clay compounds enriched with iron compounds (8.7 %), and sand (1.8 %).

Mask N 43 (19x14. 5 cm). The forehead, nose, and cheek edges, as well as many small fragments, are missing (Fig. 4, a, b). The wall thickness is 1.5-3 mm, in some areas-up to 5 mm (Fig. 4, d, e). The material is cream-colored, porous, and relatively hard. A 0.5 mm thick finishing layer is applied over one uneven layer of gypsum. The surface is smooth, smoothed with a hard brush that left traces (Fig. 4, h). Patterns are visible; they are applied with a sharp object on the not completely dried finishing layer (Fig. 4, g) and painted with cinnabar: a triangle between the eyes, a shamrock on the chin, parallel, diagonally arranged shamrocks on the cheeks, connected by cuttings with circles (see Fig. 4, b, f). There is a thickened layer of cinnabar on the lips. The slits of the eyes and the round line on the temple are marked with black paint made from crushed charcoal. On the reverse side, clay remains were preserved in some places, at the level of the mouth - tooth prints (Fig. 4, b, k), in place of the eyes - a rectangular base with the texture of fabric, near them - prints of seams connecting pieces of fabric with which the clay head was sheathed (Fig. 4, i). In place of the nose, a trapezoid-shaped area is outlined. Thus, in place of the eyes and mouth (on the outside), a layer of plaster was thickened and applied to the fabric; it filled in the existing depressions. The main component of the dough is gypsum, which contains calcium carbonate (up to 2.5%), clay compounds enriched with iron oxide compounds (3.5 %) and sand (1.5%). The infrared spectrum confirms the presence of calcium carbonate and iron oxide compounds in the test.

Key details of mummy Face reconstruction

On the reverse side of all masks are visible prints of seams, skin, less often weaves of fabric, against the eyes and mouth there are plaster bulges stuck together with the mask with prints superimposed on top of pieces of fabric. Against the eyes, as a rule, there are traces of fabric weaves. Such impressions between the lips are less common, perhaps because they are erased by dental impressions. Let's look at this in more detail.

On the back side of the fragments of all the masks, there were traces of animal skin, folds of coarse material and raised seams that could have formed when stitching pieces of leather or coarse fabric over the edge. Many fragments show prints of herbaceous plant stems or plant remains, as well as fabric textures. Thus, we can conclude that the basis for plaster masks were skulls previously covered with clay, and then lined with pieces of stitched leather or fabric. The skin was made of scraps sewn over the edge. The seams on the fabric are thin and neat, while on the skin they are rough and raised (see Figs. 4, i; 5, a).

On the reverse side of all masks in place of the eyes, as noted, there are gypsum protrusions with a thickness of 3, 5 (masks N 35a; 366; 43a; 50; 50a; etc.) to 10 mm (mask N 36a)*. They show prints of rectangular or oval pieces of fabric ranging in size from 3x2 and 3x3 to 4x4 cm, swept along the edges with thread (see Fig. 4, i; 5, b; 6, b; 7, b, c). So, the mummy's eye sockets were covered with a piece of cloth and covered with plaster. Between the lips on the reverse side of the masks are marked strips of plaster with dimensions from 4x0. 5 to 6x2 cm and a thickness of 5 - 10 mm. 4, k; 7, d), and on the mask N 37 - a piece of the tooth itself. It can be assumed that the mummy's leather-covered head had its eyes open, and some of its teeth were partially visible. The location of prints in strictly defined places (near the eyes, mouth) reflects the techniques of applying plaster. Thus, a thickened layer of plaster at the place of the eyes, which is close to a rectangle in shape, and a narrow elongated strip of plaster between the lips or a layer of gypsum thickened to 9 mm (always with toothprints) against the mouth indicate that before applying the mask, a portion of plaster was pressed in and filled the cavities of the clay eye sockets and the open mouth. Judging by the prints of interlacing strips of cloth (rectangular or oval in shape), swept along the edges with threads, on almost all clay overlays, the mummy's eyes and mouth were previously covered with pieces of cloth. Some of the stitches are quite thick - probably pieces of cloth were not only applied to the eyes, but also sometimes sewn to the skin or fabric (seam over the edge), covering the skull over the clay. After that, a portion of plaster was applied and pressed in, on which the mask itself was already applied.

* Often two masks (a mask with a separate skull and a mask with a skeleton) were listed under the same number; they were assigned additional letter designations.

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5. Mask N42, a-prints of plants, skin and rough seams connecting the leather pieces of the mummy's head covering; b - prints of tissue against the eye.

6. Mask N38. a - slit of the ocher-colored eye, under which red paint is visible; b - prints of the rectangular base and rough seams against the eye.

7. Mask N39. a - eyes with pieces of cheeks and lips; b-prints of two pieces of cloth and a plaster overlay against the left eye; c-prints of two pieces of cloth against the right eye; d-teeth prints on the plaster overlay on the back of the lips.

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The mummy's leathery face was apparently being painted. Under the microscope, traces of red paint are visible not only on the outer, but also on the inner side of the masks (N 32, 38 and skull N 46), and on the back of the masks you can see the prints of the leather surface of the mummy's head. On skulls N 33, 45, 46, red paint is visible on clay under plaster masks. Of course, the paint may have dripped down the edges of the mask when it was painted (see Fig. 6, a). However, the skull N 46 has red ochre both on the clay, under the mask, and on the inner surface of the mask. Apparently, when the painted skin decomposed, the paint either settled on the clay or stained the inner surface of the mask.

In appearance, the mummy's leather-covered clay face with open eyes with beady pupils inserted, with a slightly open mouth in which teeth are visible, is associated with a living, or rather revived, person (see Figs. 1, 2) [Vadetskaya and Protasov, 2003, Fig. 3; Vadetskaya, 2004, Fig. 1, 3]. The appearance of a mummy with a plaster face, depicted with closed eyes and closed lips, corresponds to a dead person (see Fig. 3, 4) [Vadetskaya and Protasov, 2003, Fig. 6; Vadetskaya, 2004, fig. 1, 4]. Both of them reflect different stages of the dead person's transition to another world and are associated with different rituals. Between the production of the mummy's head and the mask, a certain amount of time passed, during which the mummy's heads sometimes managed to collapse. This is evidenced by indirect evidence. For example, in addition to skin and tissue imprints, the reverse side of gypsum fragments contains clinging pieces of clay or plant fibers (see Figs. 5, a; 8, a). They may have infiltrated

8. Mask No. 49, a-skin impressions and clay particles on the reverse side; b - a fragment of the wall with a thin smooth finishing layer; c-traces of restoration of the finishing layer with two new ones and a fragment with a twice-painted surface of the upper layer; d - updated painting on the mask.

9. Mask No. 50a. - red painting on the forehead (drawing); b-fragment of the neck with a black stripe; c-plaster overlay on the back of the chin.

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here from the leather lining and even from the skull box, from places where the bones of the skull for some reason were damaged. The mummy's left eye socket was destroyed, probably when the mask No. 35a was made, so it was covered with a piece of cloth, covered with plaster 5 cm thick, then covered with another piece of cloth and a 3 mm thick coating. The right eye socket was intact and covered with a piece of cloth, almost without coating. The eyes of the mummy under mask No. 39 were closed in the same way (see Figs. 7, b, c). Perhaps, being damaged, the eye socket under the mask N 44 was closed not by one, but by two pieces of cloth (3x2 and 3. 5x2. 3 cm). Plaster, pieces of which are stuck on the reverse side of the mask N 50a in the chin or neck area (Fig. 9, c), apparently covered up the crack in the lower jaw.

Composition of the test and methods of making masks

The natural composition of gypsum is determined for 13 masks. For 8 of them, special additives were introduced when mixing gypsum with water (see the table).

Natural gypsum contained admixtures of clay, sand, and limestone. Gypsum stone with admixtures of approx. 10 % is considered the most suitable for the production of binders and is used to produce technical, molding and medical gypsum. Raw materials containing approx. 25 % of impurities belong to a lower grade. Admixtures in gypsum used as a building material should not exceed 35 %. According to the analysis results, the masks under study were made of fairly pure gypsum; the total content of impurities in it does not exceed 10 %. The material from which the masks are made is mostly white, dense, hard, and brittle. Some masks are characterized by whiteness and increased hardness, especially the finishing layers. Wool and crushed plant material, including the remains of herbaceous plants (a fragment of the epithelium of the stem of a herbaceous plant was determined), were added to the dough as a filler during its kneading, but in a small amount. In addition, in the test of many masks, crushed charcoal is present as a filler in a small amount. In the process of making a plaster mask, which involves applying a gypsum solution to the base, evenly distributing it over the surface and leveling it, it is important to take into account the setting speed, because it determines the time during which the material is suitable for use, and ultimately the quality of the product*.

The ancient masters probably knew some of the technological techniques of mass production of masks. For example, an optimal proportion of water and gypsum was formed, which allowed maximizing the time required for applying and leveling gypsum, but without compromising strength, substances were added that gave the finished product increased hardness, in particular, animal glue (gelatines), milk, whey or mineral alum. The presence of organic compounds in the gypsum material is confirmed by data obtained by infrared spectroscopy.

The total thickness of masks is 4-5 or 6 - 7 mm, rarely up to 8 mm, and the thickness in the neck and nose area is up to 10 mm. Gypsum was applied to the base in two or three steps, then covered with a thin (less than 1 mm thick) finishing layer. The thickness of the first lower layer is 1 - 2 mm, in rare cases more, and the main layer is from 1 to 3 - 5 mm.

* The setting speed of burnt gypsum depends on the ratio of the products formed during heating of gypsum, natural pollutants and particle size. Setting of burnt gypsum is an exothermic reaction, accompanied by a slight increase in volume in the last stages. However, the setting time and the degree of expansion can be significantly changed by introducing appropriate additives-electrolytes. It is known that gypsum mixed with a solution of animal glue, as well as with other organic colloids, hardens much more slowly than ordinary. Similar retarders of setting are borax, various salts of acetic acids. Alum, other sulfates, and alkali metal chlorides reduce the setting time of gypsum. To accelerate the hardening process, lime or limestone is added, which are catalysts for this process. However, both borax and alum give gypsum products increased hardness, i.e., both accelerators and retarders very significantly reduce the amount of expansion of gypsum during setting. It is especially important to take this property into account when making items that must be strictly defined in size. In this case, burnt powdered gypsum is mixed with a solution of borax or alum and lubricated with such a solution the surface of the finished product, if you want to make a surface strengthening. Thus, by combining the ratio of accelerators and decelerators, you can choose the optimal setting speed and get a strong product. The setting time, expansion rate, strength and porosity are also affected by the ratio of burnt gypsum and water. So, at a ratio of 100: 60, the setting time is approx. 7 min, and at a ratio of 100:80, it increases to 10.5 min, but the compressive strength decreases. Burnt and crushed gypsum gets a special strength if it is soaked for one day in a solution of alum, and then dried in air and subjected to secondary firing.

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Content of natural gypsum admixtures and additives in the dough, %

N masks

Calcium Carbonate

Iron in clay

Sand

Supplements

42

3,0

9,6

2,4

Ground coal

50

1,0

8,7

1,8

-

49

2,0

6,1

0,5

Organic compounds

32

A little bit in the finishing layer

4,3

0,7

-

43

2,5

3,5

1,5

-

33a

2,0

2,4

4,1

Coal, wool, grass

336

Traces

2,4

2,0

Plants, wool and coal

46a

"

1,5

3,2

Plants, wool

416

-

-

-

Grass, coal, hair

35a

2,0

Traces

Traces

Hair

No phone number

A little

-

-

Organic compounds, coal

thickened areas have an additional third layer. The lower layers were usually well dried before applying the subsequent ones, as evidenced by the clear boundaries between them. If the layers are not sufficiently dried, the borders are barely distinguishable. The top finishing layer, which serves as a primer, is prepared for painting. It is characteristic that in many masks it is of the purest white color, with a smooth surface, made of dense and hard material. Often the finishing layer is much whiter than the color of the mask itself. At the same time, it is very thin, even in thickness, it is likely that it was not applied manually, the surface of the mask was doused with a relatively liquid dough, which was distributed very evenly over the surface and did not require additional processing when drying (see Fig. 8, b). The surface of other masks is also smooth, but leveled with a hard brush, which left traces (see Fig. 4, h). The material of the finishing layer consists almost entirely of pure gypsum, the impurities are insignificant, but the content of calcium carbonate in it is slightly higher than in the main layers of the mask, which is also confirmed by infrared spectra. It would not be correct to draw a conclusion about the deliberate addition of lime in this case, although it should be noted that even a small amount of lime can give gypsum increased hardness, plasticity, resistance to water and reduce porosity.

The slits of the mask's eyes were made of un-dried plaster; they are deep, with smooth edges.

Painting masks

The plaster masks, as noted by N. Y. Kuzmin, were white, gray and yellow, painted with red and black paint. In his opinion, the clay faces of some mummies are painted with the same colors and only the eyes and lips are covered with plaster [Kuzmin, 1985a, p. 217; Kuzmin and Varlamov, 1988, p. 149].

In reality, there are only white plaster masks painted with red and black paint, and red, both in approximately equal quantities. There are no yellow or gray ones; a few masks were slightly blackened by the fire in the crypt.

Traces of paint on the clay under the plaster masks must have been on the leather paneling. In all cases, the front part of the mummy's head was covered with a plaster mask, but it usually preserved the eyes with pieces of cheeks and lips. As indicated, the areas of the leather covering where the eyes and mouth were located were previously covered with a piece of cloth and covered up, so there is always more plaster on the eyes and lips than on other places of the mask, here their walls are thicker.

Some white masks have a creamy tint, which is explained by the high content of iron oxide impurities in clay and the weak cleaning of gypsum from them during the manufacture of the finishing layer of the mask. On the not completely dried finishing layer of white masks, a pattern was drawn with a sharp object, which was painted. Red masks have their entire surface painted red (see Figs. 7, a; 10). The pigments used were mainly red ochre in various shades (red, red-brown and orange), cinnabar, gray-blue paint of earth origin and charcoal black from charcoal. Mixtures of cinnabar and ochre were used.

On the fragments of red masks, the upper edges of the eye slits are painted with black paint. On one mask, a black semicircle is visible in the temple area. On white masks, only the lips are painted red, and in other places red patterns are drawn, which are partially preserved. Painting of standard figures covers well-defined areas - cheeks, forehead (just above the bridge of the nose), chin and neck

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10. Mask No. 366. Fragments of the forehead, eyes with pieces of cheeks and lips.

Fig. 11. Mask N 41. Chin and part of the cheek with red painting.

12. Eye mask No. 51 with red painting under the lower eyelid.

4, a, b). The cheeks are densely painted with shamrocks on one or two long cuttings that rest on circles. In the middle of some cuttings, a pair of leaves is shown (see Fig. 4, b). In the lower part of the cheeks, the cuttings end in either a dot or a narrow triangle (mask N 45a). The same narrow triangle is drawn between the eyes, and on the chin more often a shamrock, only on the mask N 41-a circle (Fig. 11). Sometimes on the cuttings instead of shamrocks depicted solid circles. Deep slits of the eyes were painted with black paint and a horizontal stripe up to 5 mm wide was drawn on the neck (see Fig. 9, b). Probably, a black circle or semicircle was drawn in the temple area, but fragments of the temporal and frontal parts of the mask are few in number. On the mask N 50a, two parallel lines are shown across the forehead, one of them is bordered on one side by triangular thickenings and ends in a circle (see Fig. 9, a). Two red parallel lines under the eye are found on mask No. 51 (Fig. 12) and on the cheek of mask No. 41 (see Fig. 11).

The painted masks probably belonged to women, and the red-painted ones all belonged to men. The first assumption is confirmed by the presence of similar masks on two female turtles. One of them (No. 34) is from this mound, the other is from a grave of the same time in the Kamenka burial ground (Pshenitsyna, 1975, pp. 46-47, Fig. 2). The second assumption is supported by the three male skulls described above with the remains of red masks (N 33, 45, 46) from the mound under consideration. However, the fourth skull (No. 47) with a plaster cast painted with red paint over the eye sockets, presumably belonged to a 15-19 - year-old woman (Mednikova, 2001, p. 219).

The nature of the painting did not depend on the paint. For example, on four masks the same painting is made in ochre, and on three-in cinnabar. In some cases, the painting was first done in ochre, and later updated with cinnabar. Therefore, traces of ochre or cinnabar can be a chronological feature of masks.

Neither the composition of the pattern on the masks, nor its main motif (shamrock) they are not found in local ornaments on Tagar products. If we interpret as a schematic representation of a trefoil tree three dots on the borders of vessels from ground Tagar-Tashtyk burial grounds (Kamenka III, Tepsey VII), as well as on one vessel from the Tesinsky mound Tepsey XVI

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65, 84], then the origin of this symbol is not local.

The study of the painted surface showed that every fourth mask was repainted. As a rule, the layer of red ochre was overlaid with a new paint made from cinnabar. Sometimes the mask was not only repainted, but also seriously restored.

So, on the mask N 49 there are three thinnest finishing layers separated by clear borders (see Fig. 8, c). Each layer has a very smooth surface. Only the top layer is painted, and twice: first with red ochre, and then with cinnabar (see Fig. 8, d), which filled in the damaged areas and cracks in the top layer, painting the side surfaces of the mask fragments. If we assume that the finishing layers were applied at different times, then the mask was restored at least 3 times.

On mask No. 38, red paint is visible under the slit of the ocher-colored eye (see Fig. Judging by the fragments on which there is a new finishing layer with painted side surfaces, it also underwent repainting. This mask has been restored at least 2 times. You can increase the number of such examples.

Thus, the traces of restoration associated with the renewal of only one paint layer or the application of new finishing layers with staining and subsequent repainting show that quite a long time passed between the production of the mask on the mummy and the burial of the latter (in a mask).

Conclusion

Studying the masks from the New Mochagi burial mound helps to get a more complete picture of the mummies and masks found earlier. Rough skin on a clay face was found on a mummy in a mound near the village of Beresh. The leather face with slits for eyes and a sewn nose was covered with a plaster mask (Vadetskaya, 1999, fig. 82, 2). Eye slits in the leather covering of the head were made so that the mummy could see. Poor preservation of the plaster did not allow us to examine the inner surface of the mask on the Beresh mummy, but on the inner side of the mask fragments taken from clay skulls from other mounds (Kyzyl-Kul, Tes, Tas-Khyl), there are gypsum thickenings against the eye slits, and against the lips - teeth prints [Vadetskaya, 2004, p. 299]. So, these masks were also made on a mummy with a leather head, which had its eyes and mouth open. The outer surface of these masks was either white (Tas-Khyl) or bright red (Kyzyl-Kul). Red masks, as noted by A.V. Adrianov, show black stripes or circles (Vadetskaya, 2004, p. 299). Apparently, it was a question of stripes in the form of a semicircle on the temples, as on the mask of skull No. 46 from the New Mochagi mound, because on fragments of other parts of masks from three mounds (Kyzyl-Kul, New Mochagi, Lisi) traces of black paint, and not soot, were not detected.

The late Tatar burial mounds are divided into conventionally dated II-I centuries BC and I-IV centuries AD and generally refer to the Hunno-Sarmatian period. Each of them replaces an entire cemetery, so it contains one large grave with dozens of buried people. Mounds are built at a great distance from each other or stand alone in the steppe. Even S. A. Teploukhov noted that graves contain secondary burials of "dead or bones left over from the primary burial", which were burned in the chamber itself [1929, p. 48-49]. Graves reflect the evolution of the funeral rite mainly in two directions: bronze products (including miniature ones) were replaced by iron ones and methods of making mummies were improved. The skills of reconstructing the skull with clay were formed gradually. First, grass and birch bark were used to reconstruct the skull, then birch bark and clay, and later-clay and leather. The changes apparently also affected the choice of material for masks. This evolution of the method of making mummy heads (without clay, with clay, but without plaster masks and with plaster masks) is reflected in the materials of the mound near D. Sabinka (Vadetskaya, 2004, p. 307). Technical innovations occurred while maintaining religious or social reasons that led to burying together a large group of people who died at different times. Therefore, the results of the analysis of mummies from the New Mochagi mound refer not only to all the later (Tesinsky) mounds, but also to earlier ones. In all of them, the dead were collected and burned after undergoing several funeral procedures (temporary burial, "revival" after exhumation by creating an imitation of the body, then recognition of final death by covering the face with a mask and final cremation in a chamber). A certain time elapsed between acts; each act was accompanied by appropriate rites. In general, the funeral procedure was not only complicated, but also very long due to the need to accumulate mummies and periodically restore them. In addition, the first analysis of plant materials used in the manufacture of mummies confirmed the previously expressed (based on the study of clay dough) consideration that the dead were brought for general burial from different places [Ibid.,

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p. 302]. It is possible that each generation of the population of Tatar settlements took part in these rites and the construction of the mound, as a rule, 1-2 times in their lives.

List of literature

Vadetskaya E. B. Tashtykskaya epokha v drevnoi istorii Sibiri [The Tashtyk Epoch in the Ancient History of Siberia]. - St. Petersburg: Petersburg, vostokovedenie Publ., 1999, 438 p. (in Russian)

Vadetskaya E. B. Siberian funeral masks (preliminary results and research objectives) / / Archeol. to lead. - 2004. - N 11. - p. 298-323.

Vadetskaya E. B., Protasov V. A. Yenisei mummies (archaeological sources and their anatomical expertise) / / Archeology, Ethnography and Anthropology of Eurasia. - 2003. - N 4. - P. 36 ^ 17.

Yegorkov A. N. K tekhnologii izgotovleniya tesinskikh glinyanykh masok [On the technology of making Tesin clay masks]. - St. Petersburg: Gos. Hermitage, 2002, pp. 232-236.

Excavations of the Tesinsky burial complex in the south of Khakassia / / AO 1983. 1985a, pp. 216-217.

To reconstruct the funeral rite of the population of the Minusinsk Basin in the Scythian period (based on the materials of the Middle Yenisei expedition) / / Archaeological research in melioration zones. Results and prospects, their intensification. - L.: Nauka, 19856. - p. 47 ^ 18.

Kuzmin N. Y. Robbery or ritual? / Reconstruction of ancient beliefs: sources, method, purpose. Saint Petersburg: State Museum of the History of Religion, 1991, pp. 146-155.

Kuzmin N. Yu., Varlamov O. B. Features of the funeral rite of the Minusinsk basin tribes at the turn of our era: reconstruction experience // Methodological problems of archeology of Siberia. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1988, pp. 146-155.

Mednikova M. B. Trepanations in the ancient peoples of Eurasia. Moscow: Nauch. mir Publ., 2001, 303 p.

Mednikova E. Yu. O primenenie svyazuyushchego dlya izgotovleniya glinyanykh masok [On the use of a binder for making clay masks]. - St. Petersburg: Gos. Hermitage, 2002, pp. 255-257.

Pshenitsyna M. N. Glinyanaya golova - predsednik tashtykskoy gipsovoi maski [Clay head as a precursor of the Tashtyk gypsum mask].

Teploukhov S. A. Experience of classification of ancient metal cultures of the Minusinsk region // Materials on the Ethnography of Russia, Moscow: Russian Museum, 1929, vol. 4, issue 2, pp. 41-61.

The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 15.12.05.

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