Pavlova A.N.  

T. A. Krukova's ethnographic reserch as a basis for the reconstruction of the semantics of the ancient Finno-ugric costume

In Russian ethnography the costume was considered as a part of material culture for a long time. The issues of the semantics of folk costume became the focus of attention only at the end of the XX century, which creates difficulties for applying a retrospective approach to the study of archaeological costume in the context of the spiritual culture of an ethnic group.  T. A. Kryukova made a significant contribution to the study of material culture and art of the Mari and Mordovian peoples. The researcher used a systematic approach, which allowed only to describe the traditional costume of the Finno-Ugric population of the Volga region, the ways of its decoration, but also to point out the social and ritual aspects of its existence. The ethnographic material collected by T.A. Kryukova reveals the place of the costume in the funeral rites, is one of the keys to deciphering the code system of the costume of the Finno-Ugrians of the Volga region.