Structural Elements of the Yurt
The main type was the portable dwelling boz uy (kiyiz uy, kara uy, kyrgyz uy) - the yurt uy. The yurt, according to the research of S.I. Vainshtein (Vainshtein, 1991. P. 40-69), originated in the first half of the 1st millennium in the ancient Turkic environment and became the primary portable dwelling of a number of Turkic-Mongolian nomadic peoples.
The structural elements of the yurt, the techniques of their manufacture, as well as the furnishings have common features among all groups of Kyrgyz. This does not exclude the presence of certain peculiarities (Antipina, 1962. P. 154-175) among different groups of Kyrgyz.
E.I. Makhova distinguishes two types of yurts among the Kyrgyz (Makhova, 1952. P. 47), the main difference between which is the shape of the dome. In northern Kyrgyzstan (except for the Talas Valley), the shape of the yurt's dome is close to conical. In the south, as well as in the Talas and Chatkal valleys, the dome is more gently sloping and has a hemispherical shape (Makhova, 1952. P. 47). However, this viewpoint is controversial. According to other data, in the 19th century, both types of yurts were found everywhere in northern Kyrgyzstan. S.M. Abramzon, referring to pre-revolutionary sources, writes: "In the mid-19th century, the yurt with a hemispherical dome was widespread in Northern Kyrgyzstan. This is confirmed by eyewitnesses" (Abramzon, 1990. P. 128). The conical yurt was used universally in winter, while the hemispherical one was used in summer. The wooden parts of the winter yurt were thicker and made from stronger materials.
In the manufacture of the structural elements of the yurt, a gender-based division of labor is evident: the wooden structures of the yurt - uydun jygahtary were made by men, while the coverings - kiyiz, jabuulary - were made by women.
The wooden frame of the yurt consisted of foldable lattice walls - kerege, poles - uuk, upper rim-flue - tunduk, door frame - bosogo, doors - etik, kaalga. The elements of the frame were made from specific types of wood, using special techniques and tools. For the lattice walls and dome poles, different species of willow and talnik - tal were used. The rim of the dome was made from black poplar (kara jygaсh), birch (kayin), and black willow (kara tal).
The length of the dome poles in the average yurt reaches 200-250 cm, in larger yurts it sometimes exceeds 3 m, with a thickness in the middle of 2.5-3 cm. The poles secured above the door etik uuk are shorter than the others, as one end of them was located on the upper crossbar of the door frame bash bosogo, which is positioned above the walls of the yurt (Antipina, 1962. P. 157-159; Alymbaeva, 2000).
The lattice walls kerege were divided according to the thickness of the slats and the size of the mesh into tor koz - with fine mesh and zhel koz - with coarse mesh. The slats were fastened with rawhide straps kok, sometimes among the wealthy with copper and silver nails with embossed heads gul myk. The individual segments of the wall were called kanat. The number of wall segments varied from 4 to 14 (Antipina, 1962. P. 159; Alymbaeva, 2000. P. 92-107; Kochkunov, 2001. P. 282,283).
The wooden round rim tunduk was made from two hewn and bent poles. The ends of the semicircles were connected with a rawhide strap, and over it, the ends were wrapped with raw leather, the edges of which were sewn together. Holes were made in the rim, into which the ends of the dome poles were inserted. The number of holes corresponded to the number of dome poles. The size of the rim was determined by the size of the yurt. With 6 segments and approximately 100 poles, the diameter of the upper rim was equal to 150-160 cm, and the cross-shaped crossbars chamgarak arched to a height of 30 to 40 cm. The inner side of the wooden circle and the lower sides of the crossbars were decorated with carvings.
A wooden forked pole bakan supported the cover of the smoke circle, protecting the hearth from heavy rain and snow. In larger yurts, there were several of these. Wealthy hosts would put silver caps on the ends of the forks (Antipina, 1962. P. 159-160; Alymbaeva, 2000. P. 92-107).
The settlement of nomadic and semi-nomadic Kyrgyz in the 19th and early 20th centuries.