The largest number of Tashtyk masks are collected in stone structures, conventionally called crypts of the V-VI centuries. In the graves located in the crypts, as well as in the graves of mounds of the Hunno-Sarmatian period, dozens of dead people were buried simultaneously, and with the same funeral rituals, reflecting a single worldview about the transition of the deceased to the afterlife. In practice, it was like this: first they made a temporary burial, then they "revived" the deceased - they created a dummy and after a while there was a recognition of the final death - a mask was molded on the dummy's face with closed eyes and closed lips, like a dead person. However, if earlier corpses were temporarily buried, and mannequins were made on the skeleton (after exhumation), now the corpse was burned, and the ashes of a person in the form of burnt bones with an average size of 1.5 - 3 cm became the basis of mannequins or their heads. From an adult cremated person, 1 kg (or slightly more)remained seeds, but only a part of it (250-800 g) was placed in a birch bark curtain or leather bag, which was tightly wrapped with grass and wrapped with leather. On the front side of a thick leather blank, the hollows of the eyes and mouth were marked, and the nose was sewn on. These heads of funeral dolls symbolized the "living or revived deceased" until a mask was made on them (Vadetskaya, 2005, p. 141, 146, Tables 2, 4). Differences in the size of the leather-grass heads and the shape of the noses determined some individuality of the masks, even if the rest of the facial features were sketchy. Nevertheless, it was difficult to identify a specific deceased by the mask without painting it (Figure 1). Unfortunately, the painting on the masks is extremely rare by the time the crypts were excavated, since the cameras burned along with imitations of the dead, and during their burning, the masks were usually soaked with organic products - leather, fabric, birch bark-and other materials. even partially burned. As a result, they turned dark gray, dark brown, and black. But even the darkest ones had white inner layers. Traces of paint on the surface can be detected with the naked eye or using microscopic and microchemical methods. If the burning was insignificant, organic substances smouldered or decomposed, the masks acquired a yellowish or light brown hue. Occasionally there are pure white masks, but they were completely painted red with cinnabar or ocher. When the crypt burned, the cinnabar disappeared from their surface, and the ochre faded or, possibly, eroded. The penetration of moisture into the crypt is indicated by the roots of plants that cut through some of the white masks. Bright colors on masks are almost not preserved, so the painting on these finds was practically not studied.

History of the study of painting on masks and research methods

On some of the masks first extracted (more than 20) from the crypt on Tatarsky Island (1883), the author of the excavations, A.V. Adrianov, noticed traces of bright red paint (in his opinion, iron oxide) [1884, p.249]. He did not notice any stripes or patterns, although some masks have them.

In 1923, S. A. Teploukhov in the crypt on the Saragashensky uval (further - Saragash) among the sooty fragments of masks found fragments painted with red and light blue paint. From these, I managed to collect two recently published masks. One with red cheeks, lips, and a blue circle below her ear. The forehead does not co-

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It was stored in [Vadetskaya, 2004a, fig. 14]. The second mask is almost intact, only with broken edges on the forehead and temples. A quadrilateral with elongated corners is drawn on the forehead with red paint, and inside it is an oval spiral in three turns [Ibid., Fig. 13]. The third mask (N 14) represents the forehead with temples, eyes, and cheek fragments (Fig. 2). The remaining colored fragments belonged, in my opinion, to two masks: N 15-part of the forehead and ear, and also conditionally a piece of the temple and cheekbones with the image of hair (Fig. 3, a); N 21 - a red cheek with a blue cheekbone and black stripes representing hair, as well as a mouth (Fig. But the best preserved items in the collection were large gray masks with false ears-curls, as well as three coasters. On the white stand there were traces of blue and red paint used to represent the necklace (Vadetskaya, 1999, fig. 48, 1-6). Combining the parts of different masks, S. A. Teploukhov made a generalized reconstruction of their appearance [1929, Table II, 19; Vadetskaya, 1981, p. 93, Fig. 20], and also highlighted the features of masks: red cheeks and lips, false curls of the ears, blue-colored closed eyelids (usually called barely outlined eye slits) and descending curls of hair with black lines (Fig. 4). He did not specify what the ornament on the forehead was, noting only that that on it and on the neck are painted red and blue patterns, "very possibly depicting a tattoo of that time "[Teploukhov, 1929, p. 51].

In the 1930s, S. V. Kiselyov collected more than 100 masks in crypts on the right bank of the Yenisei River, which were not clearly painted. Therefore, he repeated the description of S. A. Teploukhov, but offered to decipher the pattern on the forehead and temples. S. V. Kiselyov called the figures in the center a meander, and on the temples - a spiral. For some unknown reason, he pointed out the presence of spirals also on the cheeks and noted that all the lines on the forehead, temples and cheeks consisted of rows of red and bluish-black paint [1935, p.4]. Later, this erroneous conclusion was repeated by S. V. Kiselev [1949, p. 250], as well as by L. A. Evtyukhova [1954, p. 199] and L. R. Kyzlasov [1960, p. 150]. S. V. Kiselev did not analyze the painting even after the discovery of colored masks in the crypts of the Uibat chaatas in 1936 and 1938 (further - Uybat I). He noted that for coloring the lower part of the cheeks (images of hair according to S. A. Teploukhov), not only blue, but also green paint was used, and sometimes the eyelashes of the eyes were marked with paint. But black dots - eyelashes along the slits of the eyes - and greenish hair are marked only on one mask from crypt 11 Uibat I (Fig. 5). In addition, he pointed out that some of the women's masks found in the same crypts had clay beads attached to their necks. S. V. Kiselev's scientific contribution to the study of the topic is the color reconstructions of three masks published by him, on which the painting is almost exactly restored [1949, Tables I, XLIII; Evtyukhova, 1954, p. 201].

L. R. Kyzlasov, who collected many fragments of masks with traces of patterns in two crypts on the Syr and Koibal chaatas (hereinafter referred to as Syry and Koibaly), noted the predominance of images of spirals in the center of the forehead, rather than meanders [1960, p. 150] . M. P. Gryaznov, having found traces of painting on four fragments of masks from crypt 1 under G. Tepsey (hereinafter-Tepsey III), pointed out their similarity to the four masks published by S. V. Teploukhov and S. V. Kiselev [1979, p. 94].

My study of masks began with the collections of the Minusinsk Museum named after N. M. Martyanov and the State Hermitage Museum. These were masks mostly made of

1. Reconstruction of the head of a masked doll from the Bely Yar III crypt.

Fig. 2. Part of the mask with painting on the forehead and temples. Saragash (GE, col. 4134, N 14).

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Fig. 3. Fragments of painted masks. 4134, N 15, 21), a-forehead, ear, temples, cheekbones with the image of hair (N 15); b-mouth and cheekbone with the image of hair (N 21).

4. The first reconstruction of the bust made by S. A. Teploukhov.

Fig. 5. A large fragment of the right half of the mask with a painting and an image of eyelashes. Uybat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 46).

crypts on the right bank of the Yenisei River (usually heavily smoked) and several from the Saragash crypt on the left bank of the Yenisei River. For the first time, attention was drawn to the fact that masks are divided into two groups - white and completely covered with red paint. Whites are characterized by red spots on the cheeks and spirals on the forehead. Lips, ears, and noses are also painted. Curbs and curls are marked with blue paint. Some red masks show black stripes (Vadetskaya, 1999, p. 94, fig. 48, 4, 5; 49, 4, 5; 50, 6 - 8; 52, 7; 53, 1, 2; 54, 1, 4, 5 - 7]. Later, I studied masks from the collections of the Abakan Museum of Local Lore and Abakan University, the IIMK RAS expedition, the State Museum of Oriental Art and the Museum of Oriental Art. These were masks from the crypts of the Uibat, Tashebinsky and Syr chaatas on the Abakan River, from the crypts of the Koibal and Arbansky chaatas in the interfluve of the Abakan and Yenisei rivers. These materials confirmed the conclusion about the division of masks into white with painting and red. The original red masks have traces of red paint behind the ears, on the chin, under the nose. The absence of red paint in these areas helps to identify the original white masks. As a result of the analysis of 200 masks, restored almost completely or in large parts, from 25 crypts (located on 16 burial grounds), the presence of paintings on 60 white and approx.100 red masks was established. But it is one thing to determine the presence of a painting, and another - its character and patterns, which are guessed only on a few masks, mainly from Saragash (Badger IV, crypt 4), Uibat I (crypts 5, 11), Bely Yar III, Syry (crypt 1), Koibaly (crypt 4), Tepsey III (crypt 2) [Vadetskaya, 1999, p. 226, N7; 248-252, N21; 258, N21; 259, N25; 263, N26; 2005]. Today, the main materials for analyzing the painting of masks are materials from crypt 11 of the Uybat I burial ground. For some unknown reason, masks are better preserved here than in other crypts, including those with remnants of bright paint. Brief information about the crypt suggests that approx. 60 heads of dolls were placed on shelves constructed of larch logs

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(150 cm wide and 60 cm high) along three walls of the cell; the fourth wall (at the entrance to the cell) was filled with numerous dishes. Fake black and red hair was attached to their heads. All heads are lined with masks with stands. Some of the masks had ear-piercings for earrings, and some had clay beads around their necks. Forty facings-busts were selected by S. V. Kiselyov for restoration [Vadetskaya, 1999, p. 248]. 12 masks from crypt 11 of Uibat I and 2 masks from crypt 5 of Uibat I were completely restored. Together with the masks glued together in large pieces, they make up half of the masks known today with traces of painting. It is important that in crypt 11, both white and red masks contain samples with the same and different patterns. They can be matched with analogs from other crypts. This means that the differences are not caused by individual characteristics of artists ' creativity, but by other reasons common to the Tashtyk population. Materials from crypt 11, as the most representative in number and diverse, are basic for the study of mask painting in general. Based on them, the main variants of painting are identified and an attempt is made to identify any patterns in the patterns with the help of analogues.

I have published black-and-white drawings of six masks from crypt 11 with a reconstruction of patterns [Vadetskaya, 20046, Fig. 7]. For this work, all 14 of the best masks are drawn in watercolors. These include three masks, the color images of which were previously published by S. V. Kiselyov, but two of them (N 6, 13) are given here with an updated reconstruction of the mural*. The purpose of color reconstruction is to restore not only the patterns on the masks, but also their bright colors. The color of the surface of the masks under the painting is left as it was in the crypt. You can't show the cast-in places.

When selecting paints for the restoration of the mural, we took into account, first, pieces of really preserved paint; secondly, the results of chemical analyses aimed at determining the paint and its color. In particular, masks from crypts located along the banks of the Yenisei River (Saragash and near the town of Tepsei) show traces of red, blue, gray-blue, bluish-blue and black paint. It is established that the masters used earthy (white, blue, red clay and ochre), as well as mineral (cinnabar) pigments. To obtain a gray-blue and black color, crushed charcoal was used in different ways [Vadetskaya and Gavrilenko, 2002, p. 220]. In the Saragash crypt, a lump of red earth was found, chemically similar to the earth pigments on the surface of masks-ochre or clay. Among the masks from the crypts on the banks of the Abakan (Bely Yar III, Tasheba), bright pink, red and crimson, painted with ochre and cinnabar, predominate. The remains of paint on the masks from the Uibat I burial ground were not analyzed, but there is no doubt that they are similar to the traces on other finds. Third, geological data on colored clays, ochre, and cinnabar in the Minusinsk basin were taken into account when selecting paints. There are everywhere deposits of multicolored clays: red, with crimson, purple, brown, brown and other shades, as well as white, white-gray, gray with bluish and greenish shades, green-gray, protective color, blue or blue, as well as ochre - from light yellow to brown-red. By firing those and others, additional orange, red-brown, crimson and other tones are obtained. Mixing individual local earthen paints, you can get up to 40 shades (Chernyavsky P. E. Report on the results of laboratory and experimental work of the museum's complex expedition on mineral raw materials in the south-eastern part of the Minusinsk district. - Archive of geol. ed. Minusin. museum named after N. M. Martyanov, op. 5, 7, l. 1-30). In the region, cinnabar is found in dense inclusions in sandstone outcrops, in clay, dressings, and in gold washing. Cinnabar pieces in the form of small pebbles are up to 1 cm across (Chernyavsky P. E. List of mineral deposits of the Minusinsk basin (including rocks of the Western and Eastern Sayan and Kuznetsk Alatau) by literary, stock and archival materials (according to the file of the geological department of the museum). - Archive of geol. ed. Minusin. museum named after N. M. Martyanov, op. 5, 68).

Women's masks

Initially, the white (sometimes cream-tinged) masks on the heads of funeral dolls were probably female: they always had red cheeks and lips, like the masks on women buried in underground Tashtyk burial grounds - Abakan Council [Vadetskaya, 1999, p. 236-238], Oglakhty, Tersky, Abakan-Perevoz [Vadetskaya, 2004a, fig. 1, 4]. The cosmetic nature of coloring the cheeks of masks from crypt 11 is proved by the fact that, although it was mandatory, its shape (oval, wide or narrow triangle) and size depended on the type of hairstyle depicted. I repeat that on most white masks, as indicated

* When creating watercolour drawings, the artist S. V. Goryunkov used black-and-white drawings made in my presence by an employee of the IIMC RAS, an artist-archaeologist L. S. Sokolova, as well as photographs of a researcher at the Department of Archaeological Sites of the State Museum of Natural History, curator of the Siberia and Central Asia Fund of the Scythian-Sarmatian period Yu.V. Demidenko. I thank them for their help.

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Fig. 6. Bust with reconstructed paintings on the cheeks and hair. Uybat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 44), a -full face; b-profile on the left side.

7. Bust with reconstructed paintings on the cheeks and the image of hair. Uybat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 25).

Figure 8. Bust (a, c) and reconstruction of the entire mural (b, d). Uybat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 13). a, b - full face; c, d - profile on the right side.

9. Bust (a) and reconstruction of the entire painting (b).Uybat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 15).

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10. Bust with reconstructed painting on the forehead, nose and cheeks. Drawing of the SV. Kiseleva [1949, Table 1]. Uibat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 31, exposition).

11. Bust (a) and reconstruction of the mural on the forehead and the image of hair (b). Uibat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 32).

12. Bust (a) and reconstruction of the painting on the forehead, cheeks and hair (b). Uibat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 12).

13. Bust (a) and reconstruction of the mural (b, c). Uybat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 34). a, b - profile on the right side; c-full face.

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even S. V. Teploukhov, curls are drawn in the form of a blue or blue circle around the ears or an oval under the ears covering part of the neck (Fig. 6-13). Sometimes these curls are crossed in parallel or in a circle by black hair lines (see Figs. 9, 13). Obviously, two types of hairstyles are shown: hair cut below the ears, and curls falling down the neck. These and other images of hair are found on the masks found on the left (Saragash) and right (Tepsey) on the banks of the Yenisei, on the tributaries of the Abakan (Uibat), in the interfluve of the Abakan and Yenisei (Koibaly). Sometimes the image of curls is combined with a border applied with the same blue or blue paint along the edges along the temples, less often-along the temples and along the edge of the forehead (see fig. 7, 8, 11, 12). Perhaps this is how stray hair is shown. If the assumption is correct, then masks with the image of a blue border can be on the heads of those dolls, to the back of which authentic pigtails are attached, preserved in the crypt. Additional signs of women's white masks are clay beads stuck on the neck (Uybat I, crypt 11) or various necklaces drawn (Saragash, Cheeses, Koibals).

Painting on white masks was done using one technology: on the still completely dry (wet) ground, patterns were drawn on the forehead, temples, as well as on the nose and near it with a sharp object or a hard brush. Borders, curls and parts of the cheeks were also outlined, which were then colored. The drawn patterns on the forehead and nose were painted differently. Most often, the patterns themselves were not touched; red paint was used to paint the gaps between the lines, so that the white patterns looked deepened on a red background (see Figures 8-10, 14, 15) [Vadetskaya and Gavrilenko, 2002, p. 220, Fig. 1, 1, 3, 6]. But on one mask from crypt 11, the patterns that should be white on a red background are painted black (see Fig. 10) [Kiselyov, 1949, Table 1]*. The pattern was rarely painted this way, but this is not the only example. A black spiral on a red background of the forehead is marked on two more masks from the crypt of Syra and on one from crypt 2 of Tepsei III [Vadetskaya and Gavrilenko, 2002, p. 220, fig. 1, 5]. Sometimes patterns were painted with red paint, and the space between them was left white (see Fig. 6, 7, 11 - 13).

Regardless of how the forehead was colored, whether the hair is depicted or not, the colors of the pattern, the patterns on the forehead and temples form the following three compositions. The most common consists of a round or oval spiral in two or three curls in the center of the forehead and on both sides of it - a paired oval spiral in one turn.

The latter face the edges of the temples, i.e. in different directions (see Figs. 8-12). Such patterns were preserved on six masks in crypt 11 and on five in the crypts of Bely Yar III, Koibaly, and Tepsey III [Ibid., Fig. 1, 6]. But probably the same patterns were found on at least ten other masks with broken temples and spirals in the middle of the forehead from Uibat I (crypt 6), Tepsei III (crypt 2), Krivinsky, Syra. Another drawing (Saragash crypt) differs only in the fact that the curls of paired spirals are located in one direction, and not in different directions (see Figure 2).

Sometimes large spirals of angular shape were depicted in the center of the forehead: the figure approached a square, a rectangle, and less often a triangle. The shapes that accompany the rosette are also geometric in shape. Together, they form a second version of the composition, similar to the one described above, but stylized and less standardized. So, in the center of the forehead of the whole mask from crypt 11, a spiral in two turns of a triangular shape is indicated. Its lower end is connected to the left side of the nose. Close to the spiral above the eye slits, triangular shapes are drawn with a fork at the bottom, meaning, perhaps, eyebrows. On the side of the temples - along a geometrized curl. The colored cheeks are located unnaturally close to the eyes; there is a large blue spot around the ears, drawn with thin circular lines (see Fig. 13) [Vadetskaya, 20046, Figs. 7, 4]. More often, the icon on the forehead consists of a spiral in two turns located inside a square with elongated corners. This image is shown on masks N 9 and 46 from crypt 11 (see Fig. 5), on the forehead fragments (mask No. 54) from crypt 6 of the Uibat I burial ground, on the forehead of a bust with a necklace from the Saragash crypt (Vadetskaya, 1999, fig. 48, 4; 2004, Fig. 13]. On the fragment of the left side of the forehead of mask No. 15 from the Saragash crypt, a red-brown oval spiral enclosed in two squares is drawn, and to the left of it - a spiral in the form of closely touching curls (see Fig. 3, a). It can be assumed that this rare spiral shape is the basis for the reconstruction of S. V. Teploukhov's mask 4). The figures accompanying the geometric frontal signs are diverse (volutes, whorls), but they differ from the paired spirals of the first composition.

The third composition consists of a very large round or oval spiral, which either completely covers the space of the forehead, or allows you to place only one ornamental element. Two masks with this design were found in crypt 5 of the Uibat I burial ground. On the forehead are oval spirals in three turns. Only at the edge of the right temple they are accompanied by an additional drawing. On one mask it is a small spiral in two turns on a long leg (see Fig. 14), on the other - a pair

* It is not possible to specify the painting and the presence of a hair image, the mask is located in the GIM exposition.

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14. Complete reconstruction of the mural. Uibat I, crypt 5 (GIM, col. 78558, N 5).

15. Mask (a) and reconstruction of the mural (b). Uibat I, crypt 5 (GIM, col. 78558, N 6).

16. Reconstruction of a red bust with two black stripes under the eyes. Uybat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N 21).

17. The left half of the bust with stripes under the eyes and on the forehead. Syry, crypt 1 (Abakan Museum, kol. 278, N 29).

18. Bust (a) and reconstruction of its painting (b).Uybat I, crypt 11 (GIM, col. 79956, N17).

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a spiral and a fragment of an obscure second (see Fig. 15). The space between the white patterns is covered with red paint, and the edge of the forehead is blue. A restored painting of one mask has already been published (Evtyukhova, 1954, p. 201).

On the forehead of three more masks from two crypts (Cheeses. Tepsey III) shows the same large spirals (Vadetskaya, 1999, Fig. 49, 4, 5; 54, 5; 2004a, fig. 4, 2, 4; Vadetskaya and Gavrilenko, 2002, Fig. 1, 4].

The white masks were painted not only on the forehead, but also on the nose. One or two (rarely three) transverse stripes were always drawn on the nose, often with different curl shapes (see Fig. 8 - 10, 14, 15). But it is not possible to determine which patterns on the nose are characteristic of certain types of forehead painting, because the forehead and nose belonging to the same mask, and even with distinct patterns, are very rare in mask collections.

Thus, on the mask imitating the face of a dead woman, elements of cosmetic design-colored eyelashes, often in the form of closed eyelids, lips, cheeks and individual hairstyles-were combined with fairly standard signs on the forehead and temples. The clarity of the patterns made on the forehead, the symmetry of their constituent figures suggest that the pattern was drawn using a pre-prepared stencil cut out of leather or birch bark. In terms of color scheme, black images with a red background are the most rare, white images with a red background are the most common, and red patterns with a white ground background are the simplest. It is not yet clear what differences between the deceased women are hidden behind this.

A variety of spirals are very characteristic of the ancient art of East Asia, especially China. They symbolized longevity and immortality [Buried Kingdoms of China, 1998, p. 168]. The central spirals on masks, similar to concentric circles with one long spur, are one of the most common symbols of the sun and the productive forces of nature. Their markings on a woman's forehead are quite understandable.

As indicated, researchers, starting with S. A. Teploukhov, assumed that the patterns on the forehead and neck were designed to represent a tattoo. Later it became clear that the patterns on the neck meant a necklace. The red background, on which they are most often depicted, does not allow you to see an imitation of a tattoo in the patterns on the forehead. In addition, until recently, the tattoo was black, blue, or purple in color, since soot or ash was usually rubbed into the skin incisions, and less often - vegetable juice (Ratzel, 1903, p. 195, 502, 524). Soot was used to tattoo a male mummy from the Oglakhty Tashtyk ground burial ground (Kyzlasov and Pankova, 2004, p. 64). Meanwhile, the patterns on the forehead of crypt masks are usually white or red. Probably, it is the painting that is depicted; it is still unclear whether it corresponded to the living or only to the dead.

Men's masks

About 100 fully or partially restored masks certainly or with a high degree of probability were originally red in color. Their masculinity is assumed by contrast with the white masks, as well as by analogy with the red male masks from earlier ground Tashtyk graves. There are red masks of a teenager and a man on the Oglakhty burial ground (Vadetskaya, 2004a, figs. 2, 3), as well as a red mask on a man in a grave near the Abakan City Council, which was reported by A.V. Adrianov (Vadetskaya, 1999, pp. 236-238). One mask from a crypt on Tagar Island appears to have a mustache. This is the way to interpret the strip drawn under the nose and above the upper lip, covered with carved slashes [Ibid., Fig. 50, 6].

Bright red paint on masks is extremely rare. For example, one or two red masks, almost unfinished and slightly tarnished, were preserved in the crypts along the Abakan: Bely Yar III, Tasheba, Koibaly. In most cases, solid ochre or cinnabar staining is detected, as noted, either by chemical analysis, or by traces of red paint in places where it is not found on white ones - under the eyes, ears, at the bottom of the cheeks, on the chin and along the edges of the mask. Many painted fragments show traces of black stripes, which, unfortunately, even on restored masks very rarely form a definite system. The fact is that black paint was made from charcoal and easily erased, so sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between traces of paint and soot. Nevertheless, the following method of painting is established. Previously, strips were applied on the incompletely dried soil with a hard brush or a sharp object. Then the space between the stripes or near them (if the latter passed along the edges of the mask) was covered with red paint, after which black paint was applied to the stripes. A layer of black paint appeared at the level of the paint layer or even slightly below it. The absence of red paint under the black stripe is determined mainly during chemical analysis (for example, on the mask from the crypt near S. Krivinsky [52, 7]) or along a whitish streak left over from burnt black paint; such a streak is usually observed along the edges of the mask (Vadetskaya and Gavrilenko, 2002, Figs. 1, 7, 9). It is possible that black paint was applied on a red background, but in this case it was "about-

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rechena": the top paint first of all faded or crumbled. In addition, as already mentioned, traces of black coal paint can easily be confused on the masks with the remains of soot that covered them during the burning of organic matter in the crypt.

It is even less possible to identify additional painting on masks that are completely painted in red than on white ones. It has been identified so far on 20 samples, mainly from crypt 11 at the Uibat I burial ground (12 fully or partially restored red masks, including five with one or three black stripes).

The most common type of painting is one or two parallel stripes that cross across the face under the eyes or just below. Two such masks were found in crypt 11. On one (N 21), the band is clear, consisting of two deepened parallel lines with a thickness of 4 mm each (Fig. 16). The other (N 33) left only a trace of black paint on the bridge of his nose. Similar stripes across the face were preserved on eight masks from five crypts of other burial grounds: Bely Yar III, Syry, Koibaly, Krivinskoe, and Tatarsky Ostrov (Vadetskaya, 1999, fig. 50, 6; 52, 7]. On the mask from the last point, this strip in the forehead and upper cheeks is crossed by vertical lines of different sizes, which probably imitate facial scars and do not belong to the painting. One band can be located not across the face, but from ear to ear or along the side edges of the mask. This type of painting is found on two masks from crypt 11 (N 30, 14), and two masks from crypt 2 of the Tepsey III burial ground [Ibid., fig. 54, 7; Vadetskaya and Gavrilenko, 2002, Fig.1, 7, 9]. On one mask from the same crypt, one wide stripe is located across the forehead, above the eyes (Vadetskaya, 1999, fig. 53, 1; Vadetskaya and Gavrilenko, 2002, Fig. 1, 8).

The second version of the painting is two stripes. One crosses the face under the eyes or nose, the other can run either from ear to ear or across the forehead. In crypt 11 on mask No. 38, the band across the nose is very narrow, and the lower one is wide, 1 cm thick at the ear, and up to 3 cm along the neck. On the mask N 47, on the contrary, the upper band is up to 4 cm wide, and the lower one, from ear to chin, is just over 1 cm wide. Both stripes are outlined in thin lines and have faded to whitish. A similar arrangement of stripes (under the eyes and below) can be read on masks N 193 and from crypt 2 Tepsey III and N 172-from Koibala. Stripes under the eyes in combination with a stripe on the forehead are found on three masks: N 11, 29 - Cheeses (Fig. 17) and N 14 - Koibals. The upper stripes sometimes resemble fused eyebrows.

The third version of the painting is three stripes. It is shown on the mask from crypt 11: the upper band 2 cm wide descends from the temples to the nose; the middle one 1 cm wide crosses the cheeks under the eyes and nose; the third one - the lower one-3 cm wide stretches from ear to ear (Fig. 18). Initially, barely noticeable slits of the eyes or closed ones are painted with black paint. the eyelids [Vadetskaya, 20046, fig. 7, 2].

Different combinations of stripes may reflect a man's age or social status. It is also acceptable that respected people should have three stripes painted on them; two of them cross the forehead and nose, and one (the lower one) outlines the mask from the temples or ear and captures the neck. People who are younger or lower in social rank are marked by a combination of the middle band with the upper or lower one. The simplest paintings (for young or ordinary people) consisted of one of the three indicated stripes, and most often the stripe is drawn under the eyes. Apart from the stripes, no other patterns were found on the red masks. An exception is a fragment of a red chin with a black circle drawn, discovered by A.V. Adrianov during excavations in 1883 (Vadetskaya, 1999, Fig. 50, 7).

There are no symbols of fertility and longevity on men's masks. On many of them, the stripes were not detected, perhaps they did not exist at all. In any case, the solid or almost solid coloring of men's masks in red has nothing to do with the tattoo of living people. However, the tradition of covering the face with red paint to participate in solemn dances and military campaigns is known among many peoples. The dead were often painted with red paint (Ratzel, 1903: 195, 342). The red color probably had a sacred meaning and could be a symbol of eternal life on Tashtyk masks. In some Indian tribes, it was customary to draw three or four thin black lines on a red background under the eyes, above the nose, and on the cheeks, which corresponds to the most common variant of painting Tashtyk masks [Ibid., p. 524].

Conclusion

The opinions expressed about the variants of ornamental compositions of masks are still preliminary in nature due to the small number of restored masks, on which it is possible to determine combinations of patterns or stripes.

Prototypes of masks from crypts of the V-VI centuries are masks on dolls and corpses from earlier ground Tashtyk graves. Early masks have not only similarities with later ones, but also differences from them. So, on early women's and men's masks, only those elements and compositions of the ornament that later become symbols are outlined. Proof of this is the subject of a separate article.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 22.03.06.

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