Shishlina N.I., Orfinskaya O.V., Leonova N.V. et al. Medieval Silk Textile from the Northwestern Caspian and the Lower Don Regions: Technological Analysis, 14С Data, the 15N and 13C Isotopic Composition of Ancient Cloths
Natalia I. Shishlina, Doctor of Science (History), Chief Researcher, State Historical Museum, Red Square, 1, 109012 Moscow, Russian Federation; Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Emb., 3, 199034 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
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Olga V. Orfinskaya, Candidate of Science (History), Senior Researcher, Center for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prosp. Leninsky, 29/8, 119071 Moscow, Russian Federation
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Nadezhda V. Leonova, Researcher, State Historical Museum, Red Square, 1, 109012 Moscow, Russian Federation
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Anna A. Mamonova, Researcher, State Historical Museum, Red Square, 1, 109012 Moscow, Russian Federation
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Ivan A. Blinov, Candidate of Science (Geology and Mineralogy), Head of the Laboratory, South Ural Federal Scientific Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ilmensky Nature Reserve, 456317 Miass, Russian Federation
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Olga V. Kuznetsova, Candidate of Science (Chemistry), Senior Researcher, Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Kosygina St, 19, Bld. 1, 119334 Moscow, Russian Federation
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Abstract. Textile is a unique source of information on technology and production stages from raw material cultivation to fabric manufacture, as well as on the people who produced the raw material, spun it into threads, and wove it into cloth; sewed garments and textile accessories; or transported them via trade routes from the place of production to the place of consumption. The paper contains technological analysis of 16 fragments of medieval textile from Golden Horde graves in the northwestern Caspian region and the Lower Don region. Traditional methods of optical microscopy were applied, along with advanced techniques of scanning electron microscopy and determination of nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in silk textiles. The isotopic composition (δ13C) of mulberry leaves, which is the primary food source for silkworms, is correlated with regional temperature data and precipitation rate and is affected by exposure to light, moisture, and the “canopy effect.” This information provides an opportunity to narrow down the geochemical areas where raw silk may have been produced. Six types of cloth were singled out, namely, lampas, taffeta, lancé, protolampas, damask, and samite. The 14C AMS dating put these cloths back to the 13th century. Based on the results of the nitrogen and carbon stable isotope composition of the silk cloths, we singled out three groups of cloths most likely related to different geographical areas where mulberry trees grow that provide the primary food source for silkworms. One of the groups is characterized by the highest δ15N value, which means that the potential mulberry growing region can be described as arid. These data, which are the first of this kind to be published, will be complemented by the results of the isotopic studies of other medieval silk cloths, therefore making it possible to specify the routes used to transport raw silk from the production centers to the consumption sites.
Key words: Northwestern Caspian region, Lower Don region, silk textile, Golden Horde, technological analyses, 14C AMS dating, stable isotopes 13C и 15N.
Citation. Shishlina N.I., Orfinskaya O.V., Leonova N.V., Mamonova A.A., Blinov I.A., Kuznetsova O.V., 2026. Shelkovyy srednevekovyy tekstil’ Severo-Zapadnogo Prikaspiya i Nizhnego Podon’ya: tekhnologicheskiy analiz, 14C daty i izotopnyy sostav azota i ugleroda [Medieval Silk Textile from the Northwestern Caspian and the Lower Don Regions: Technological Analysis, 14С Data, the 15N and 13C Isotopic Composition of Ancient Cloths]. Nizhnevolzhskiy Arkheologicheskiy Vestnik [The Lower Volga Archaeological Bulletin], vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 161-183. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/nav.jvolsu.2026.1.8
Medieval Silk Textile from the Northwestern Caspian and the Lower Don Regions: Technological Analysis, 14С Data, the 15N and 13C Isotopic Composition of Ancient Cloths by Shishlina N.I., Orfinskaya O.V., Leonova N.V., Mamonova A.A., Blinov I.A., Kuznetsova O.V. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
