The Comparison of the Archaeological and Ethnographic Sources Used in Studying the Old Russian Costume in Works by Russian Archaeologists

Abstract

The article discusses the issue of interrelation between the old costume of Kievan Rus and the later Russian traditional costume of the 19th — early 20th centuries as it stood in works by archeologists and ethnographers. The assumption that some of the dress codes of the costume of the latter times could be traced back to antiquity made it possible to apply ethnographic materials in reconstructing the costume of Kievan Rus and studying its typological features. Archaeological-ethnographic research in most cases focused on the cut of a shirt, female headdress, and poneva, a type of traditional skirt. Indeed, there are parallels and similarities between the forms of female headdresses, shirts, and their elements as described by archaeologists and ethnographers. At the same time, the evolution of the cloth with straps and poneva has not been conclusively or sufficiently studied to date.