T. A. Shigurova. Breast decorations of the middle of the XIX century in the Moksha women’s costume of the Insar district: a local version of the villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye

DOI: 10.15507/2076-2577.015.2023.03.368-379

Tatiana A. Shigurova
National Research Mordovia State University,
Saransk, Russia

Introduction. The article discusses the features of the breast decorations of the local version of the traditional clothing of the Moksha women of the Insar district of the Penza province.
Materials and Methods. The data on Moksha women’s costume of Penza province from written sources of the Russian Geographical Society of the mid-XIX century, reports published in the Penza diocesan bulletins, as well as from historical and ethnographic works of the XIX century are studied and summarized. An attempt is made to compare written evidence about breast jewelry with visual materials of archaeological excavations of a pagan burial ground of the ХVIII century, conducted near the village of Levzha in the summer of 2021. The methodological basis of the study was the comparative-historical method, as well as methods of comparison and contrast of written and visual sources, and analysis of their content.
Results and Discussion. The specificity of breast ornaments of Moksha women’s costume of the mid-XIX century, revealed as a result of reconstruction and analysis of the forms of products, materials, manufacturing technology and (authentic) names of jewelry, testifies to the complex processes of ethnogenesis in the ХVII–ХVIII centuries, caused by the resettlement of a significant number of the Erzya population in the south and southeast directions. In addition, the rapid changes in decoration were associated with the development of capitalism in Russia and the Christianization of the Mordovian people.
Conclusion. The uniqueness of breast decorations of the mid-XIX century in the Moksha costume, due to the synthesis of elements kirmish, sie, krganya, kyrgavax, which were used in the villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye of Insar uyezd, can be used for mapping the material culture of the Mordovian ethnos. Being the result of creative activity of a Mordovian woman, jewelry was a source of socially significant information about the world, embodied in visual, aesthetic and material forms.

Keywords: Mordovian people, ethnic culture, traditional Moksha costume, breast decorations, Russian Geographical Society, archaeological excavations, pagan burial ground of the XVIII century

For citation: Shigurova TA. Breast decorations of the middle of the XIX century in the Moksha women’s costume of the Insar district: a local version of the villages of Levzha, Perkhlyai, Suzgarye. Finno-ugorskii mir = Finno-Ugric World. 2023;15;3:368–379. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2076-2577.015.2023.03.368-379.