#shamanism

[zerounwantedvibrations]

[apokrify]

Tattoos of the Siberian ice maiden

[songs-of-the-east]

Saya Yakovleva, an Indigenous Sakha Artist from the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Siberia, Russia

A lot of her work is based on or inspired by native Siberian folk masks and decorations. In the first and fourth picture the design is based on the traditional Sakha/Yakut bridal mask known as an Annakh (Аннах):

"Annakh is a [a traditional face covering or head covering] from the wedding attire of a Yakut bride in archaic times (before the 17th-18th centuries). The material from which the annakh was sewn depended on the wealth of the bride's parents. In the richest family, ankhs were sewn from sable skin, in a poor one - from lynx, in a poorer one - from beaver, in the poorest one - from mare's rags. There were bedspreads made of rovduga (suede from deer or elk skin) and hair net. The rich had decoratively decorated bedspreads, even the slits were trimmed with beads. Annakh is a kind of amulet of the bride [protecting her from harm] and the evil eye of people from a opposing family. It is also the main attribute in other wedding ceremonies (for example, when meeting the groom's parents, the daughter-in-law's face must be covered with an annakh)." - Saya Yakovleva

[nestedneons]

by pascal blanchè

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Prehistoric Headdress from Britain, c.8000 BCE: this 10,000-year-old headdress was crafted from the skull and antlers of a red deer

This headdress was discovered at Star Carr, which is an archaeological site located in North Yorkshire. More than 30 other deer-skull headdresses (also known as frontlets) have been unearthed at the same site, all dating back to the Mesolithic period, c.9000-8000 BCE.

Above: one of the other headdresses from Star Carr

According to this article:

The most famous of the Star Carr finds are the enigmatic headdresses crafted from deer skulls, with holes drilled into them and parts of the antlers removed. Some headdresses are smaller than others, and could have been worn by children.

The headdresses are uncommon artefacts, with only three similar objects known elsewhere (in Germany), which raises the question of why there are so many at Star Carr.

Above: deer-skull headdress from Star Carr

The holes that were carved into each skull were likely used to secure the headdress onto the wearer's head.

Above: another frontler from Star Carr

The purpose and significance of these artifacts remains unclear. Some experts believe that they were worn as hunting disguises, while others argue that they served a ceremonial purpose. Those two theories may not be mutually exclusive, as this author points out:

The initial dichotomised interpretations offered by Dr. Graham Clark as to the frontlets’ purpose have characterised their discussion for the vast majority of the latter 20th century as either a shamanic headdress or a hunting disguise. More recently, however, researchers have critiqued this dichotomy, noting that many hunter-gatherer worldviews afford little meaningful distinction between functional and symbolic actions.

It can be argued that as shamans are widely regarded as playing a key role in negotiating human/animal relations and hunting luck, an artefact which aids the corporeal transformation of a human body into that of a deer could be used in both capacities interchangeably. Certainly, the contexts into which the frontlets were being deposited at Star Carr suggests that a complex set of meanings were attached to them.

Sources & More Info:

The British Museum: Headdress

Current Archaeology: A Survival Story: Prehistoric Life at Star Carr

Star Carr Volume Two: Studies in Technology, Subsistence and Environment: Antler Frontlets

Star Carr Archaeological Project: Antler Headdresses

York Archaeology: Mesolithic Marvels: Conserving the Star Carr Headdresses

PLoS One: Technological Analysis of the World’s Earliest Shamanic Costume

Archaeologica Baltica: The Cult of the Deer and "Shamans" in Deer-Hunting Societies

[a-path-by-the-moon]

[letmeinimafairy]

Made a proper necklace for this one!