watching game of thrones and this was considered a historically accurate portrayal of steppe nomads??? the faux leather strapless crops and faux leather yoga pants?????
one thing this show clearly doesn’t get, which a lot of modern portrayals of premodern times don’t seem to get, is that in a preindustrial society where literally everything is handmade, people preferred (and prefer!) to take a little longer to make things beautiful. if you’re personally spinning and weaving and stitching every inch your new coat, you might as well take an extra afternoon to dye the fibers a really lovely yellow with some onion scraps, and spend a little longer to embroider on a nice pattern. if you’re personally carving every angle of every chair in your house, you may as well slow down and carve them with a beautiful and culturally significant design, especially if you know your great-grandchildren will be sitting in them. in a hyperconsumerist industrial society it’s expected that you just buy what you can afford and settle for however beautiful or ugly the thing happens to be, but it wasn’t always that way. the vast majority of people in the premodern world were hobbyist artists, and they dressed in and sat on and slept under and smoked with and ate out of their and their ancestors’ canvases every day
This is the interior of a modern Kyrgyz yurt. Btw. Those tapestries on the walls and ceiling are usually made of felted wool and are for insulation (traditionally they were also for weather-proofing, but now that's usually done with plastic sheeting). The ribbing is traditionally bright red and the rugs and tapestries are also usually brightly colored. Many people involved in animal husbandry still live in these for part of the year, and some year-round.
The past and the culturally in-touch present were and are extremely colorful.
This series is now available in audio format. You can find the playlist here. This is the first part of a three four part (I, II, III, IV) l
If you want to see someone go off about this….
