Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 52 (4) 2024   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.4.141-151

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Textiles as Product and Symbol.
Ritual Gift Exchange Among the Karakalpaks
and its Central Asian Parallels

Z.I. Kurbanova¹, I.V. Oktyabrskaya², and Z.K. Suraganova³

¹Karakalpak Research Institute for the Humanities, Karakalpak Branch, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Amir Timur 179 А, Nukus, 230100, Karakalpakstan, Republic of Uzbekistan

²Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

³Bozok State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Pr. Tauelsizdik 54, bl. 6, Astana, 010000, Republic of Kazakhstan

This article focuses on the structure, content, and symbolic form of gift exchange practices among the Karakalpaks in the 20th and early 21st centuries, drawing on methodologies used by Russian and Western ethnographers. Our approach is based on a comparative analysis of practices and ideology of donating textile products among the Turkic peoples of Central Asia. We used field, archival, and published materials on the ethnography of the Karakalpaks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Altaians, etc. Characteristics of gift exchange traditions are outlined, functions and symbolism of textiles in rituals are described, and tendencies of their transformation in modern society are assessed. Findings suggest that among most Turkic peoples of Central Asia, gift exchange using textiles has traditionally accompanied many social practices. In Karakalpak family rituals, pieces of cloth were regarded as both material and spiritual values, and their exchange ensured the transfer of vital forces and strengthening the clan structure. As the analysis of modern Karakalpak gift exchange practices has shown, textiles are no longer regarded as products, but have retained their symbolic function at the level of social communication. Such an exchange has become a symbolic expression of mutual aid and solidarity at the family, clan, ethnic, and national levels.

Keywords: Turkic peoples of Central Asia, Karakalpaks, ritual gift exchange, textiles, patchwork techniques, social networks