Тесинские погребальные глиняно-гипсовые «маски» (опыт реставрации материалов из могильника Уйтаг-3, Хакасия)
Tes Burial Clay-plaster ‘Masks’ (experience in restoration of materials from the Uytag-3 burial ground, Khakassia)

Summary/Abstract: The article offers new materials obtained during the study of the unique burial crypt of the Tes’ culture on the territory of the Askiz district of the Republic of Khakassia for scientific discussion. The tomb functioned for a long time: new dead were brought in through the entrance, while previously buried ones were removed. In total, the remains of more than sixty individuals buried according to the inhumation rite were found in the tomb. But only 16 of them were found to have “masks”. The authors focus on these sculptural clay-plaster coverings of human skulls. The “masks” were badly destroyed in ancient times and needed restoration. A technique has been developed for affixing unique sculptural portraits to skulls and maximizing the visibility of plaster paintings. The restoration helped reveal the peculiarities of the manufacture of the “masks”. Clay and plaster were applied in stages to the skeletonized trepanned skull. Most of the individual sculptural portraits were created just from plaster. The “masks” were of two types: men’s monochrome red with black transverse stripes and women’s white with red floral ornaments. The pigments were ochre of various shades, cinnabar and charcoal. For the first time, remnants of gold foil applications on women’s “masks” were discovered. The closest analogies in the nature of the paintings were found in the materials of Skalnaya 5, Novye Mochagi and Kamenka III.

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