On the Issue of Semantics of Color and Material in T.A. Kryukova’s Article on “P.S. Pallas’s Collection on the Peoples of Povolzhie”

Abstract

Collections on the peoples of Povolzhie gathered by Peter Pallas have always been of interest to researchers. The prominent Soviet ethnographer Tatiana Kryukova, who examined the Pallas collections in the middle of the twentieth century, was intrigued by certain types of clothes of the Finno-Ugric peoples. Drawing on comparative ethnographic data, she voiced suggestions regarding their semantic load. Today, owing to the new archaeological data available, there appear prospects for a more comprehensive examination of ethnographic and archaeological parallels in the study of dress and clothing of the Povolzhie peoples. It is possible to argue that the meaning and semantics of color and material in the culture of Finno-Ugric peoples of Povolzhie are related to their mythological worldview.