Thread Dolls: Bone Heads Belonging to Islamic Rag Dolls in the Collection of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Abstract

In the collections of the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences are stored four bone objects that are of an extraordinary and unconventional nature. They are anthropomorphic faces made of bone with an elongated irregular rectangular shape (in some places with rounded areas), pointed at one end. The aim of this publication is to present more information on the chronology, interpretation and cultural affiliation of these interesting artefacts. The artefacts were received by NAIM–BAS in the 1980s, with no information available on the circumstances of their acquisition and no receipt from the previous owner. There is no information whatsoever about their original archaeological environment, and whether or not they were acquired as a result of regular archaeological research, or whether they were the subject of unauthorised archaeological activity, such as the illegal trafficking of movable cultural property etc. Based on a brief overview, it can be said that the finds from NAIM–BAS can be attributed to the period of Islamic art generated during the Arab expansion in the lands of the Near East between the 7th–10th/12th centuries. Their interpretation as parts of several rag or dressed dolls is based on the definitions of similar finds from the territories of present-day Israel, Egypt and Palestine. This conclusion is based on the archaeological context in which these objects were found, as well as the hypotheses circulating in scholarly circles regarding their use and place in the daily life of people during this period. Taking into account the geographical area of their distribution, the archaeological context and the anthropomorphic specifics, it can be assumed that the finds from the NAIM–BAS collection are probably of similar origin, interpretation and chronology, although their natural area of manifestation is far removed from the borders of the Bulgarian lands and the European Southeast.