Pointed hats have been a distinctive item of headgear of a wide range of cultures throughout history. Although often suggesting an ancient Indo-European tradition, they were also traditionally worn by women of Lapland, the Japanese, the Mi'kmaq people of Atlantic Canada, and the Huastecs of Veracruz and Aztec (e.g., as illustrated in the Codex Mendoza). The Kabiri of New Guinea have the diba, a pointed hat glued together. [1]
The conical hat is known to have existed as early as the Bronze Age in the Middle East, Eurasia, and Central Europe. Conical hats were recorded in ancient Egypt, especially when depicting Osiris and pharaohs, who emulated Osiris' iconography. Conical hats were also recorded by many Indo-European civilizations. Golden hats have been recorded in burial sites in Central Europe. The Scythians of the Eurasian steppes were noted for having pointed hats, often mentioned by other civilizations, such as in the DNa inscription on the tomb of Darius the Great. In Ancient Greece, the pilos was a common hat worn by travelers and infantrymen by the 5th century BCE. Popular among Burgundian noblewomen in the 15th century was a type of conical headgear now called a hennin. [2]
Textile analysis of the Tarim Mummies has shown some similarities to the Iron Age civilizations of Europe dating from 800 BCE, including woven twill and tartan patterns strikingly similar to tartans from Northern Europe. One unusual find was a distinctively pointed hat:
Yet another female – her skeleton found beside the remains of a man – still wore a terrifically tall, conical hat just like those we depict on witches riding broomsticks at Halloween or on medieval wizards intent at their magical spells.
Pointed hats were also worn in ancient times by Saka (Scythians), and are shown on Hindu temples (as helmets and metal crowns) and in Hittite reliefs. As described by Herodotus, the name of the Scythian tribe of the tigrakhauda (Orthocorybantians) is a bahuvrihi compound literally translating to "people with pointed hats". [4] [5]
Besides the Scythians, the Cabeiri as well as Odysseus are traditionally pictured wearing a Pilos, or woolen conical hat. [6]
The 13th-century Cumans commonly wore scythian style pointed hats, [7] and are reported to have fought wearing them. [8]
Originating from the Japanese Heian period, the kazaori eboshi (風折烏帽子) was worn by aristocrats to indicate rank. Still worn today for ceremonial purposes, this black [9] linen hat was used during a samurai's ceremony in attaining manhood. [10]
Medieval Jewish men wore distinctive headgear as required by European Christian authorities. This included the pointed Jewish hat (or "Judenhut") already worn by Jews, a piece of clothing probably imported from the Islamic world and perhaps before that from Persia. [11]
Popular among Burgundian noblewomen in the 15th century was a type of conical headgear now called a hennin. [2]
Pointed hoods were used by various orders and Catholic lay confraternities for processions (e.g., the Semana Santa of Sevilla, who wore the Capirote). [12]
Pointed hats are still worn in the rural Louisiana Mardi Gras celebrations by the Cajuns, the Courir de Mardi Gras , where they are known as capuchons. [13]
The Ku Klux Klan has worn this headgear since its inception. [14]
Tall conical hats are common to traditional folk ceremonies in many parts of Europe, particularly at Carnival time. Examples can still be seen in Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria. [15]
The May Day hobby horses of Padstow and Minehead in southwest England have pointed hats with masks attached. [16] [17] [18]
| Type | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bashlyk |  | This traditional Turkic and Cossack cone-shaped headdress hood is usually made of leather, felt or wool. It is an ancient round topped felt bonnet with lappets for wrapping around the neck. |
| Capirote |  | Historically, the capirote was a cardboard cone worn in Spain. |
| Capuchon |  | A capuchon is a ceremonial hat worn during the Mardi Gras celebration in the Cajun areas of southwestern Louisiana, known as the Courir de Mardi Gras . |
| Asian conical hat |  | Known as a sedge hat, rice hat, paddy hat or coolie hat, this simple style of hat is often made of straw. It originated in East, South and Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, China, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Philippines, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. |
| Dunce cap |  | In popular culture, the dunce cap is typically made of paper and often marked with a D or the word "dunce", and given to schoolchildren to wear as punishment by public humiliation for misbehaviour and, as the name implies, stupidity. |
| Fulani hat |  | A conical plant fiber hat covered in leather both at the brim and top, worn by men of the Fulani people in West Africa. |
| Golden hat |  | This type of hat is a very specific and rare type of archaeological artifact from Bronze Age Europe. |
| Hennin |  | Most commonly worn in Burgundy and France by women of the nobility, the hennin appears from about 1430 onwards. Later, though, this hat spread more widely, especially in the truncated form. Typically, the hennin was 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) high, generally accompanied by a veil that usually emerged from the top of the cone and was allowed to fall onto the woman's shoulders. |
| Hogeon |  | This Korean traditional headgear for young boys aged one year to five years has flaps, and is a type of gwanmo (관모),. |
| Jewish hat | | The Jewish hat was often white or yellow, worn by Jews in Medieval Europe and some of the Islamic world. |
| Kalpak |  | This high-crowned cap is usually made of felt or sheepskin. It is worn by men from southeastern Europe, Iran, Central Asia and the Caucasus. |
| Kasa |  | A Kasa is any of several kinds of traditional hats of Japan. |
| Madhalla |  | Traditional straw hat from Yemen. |
| Mokorotlo |  | A straw hat used traditionally by the Sotho people. It serves as the national symbol of Lesotho. |
| Nightcap |  | This garment is worn while sleeping, often with a nightgown, for warmth. |
| Nón lá |  | Nón lá is a type of Vietnamese headwear used to shield the face from the sun and rain. |
| Party hat |  | A party hat is generally a playful conical hat made with a rolled up piece of thin cardboard, usually with designs printed on the outside and a long string of elastic going from one side of the cone's bottom to another to secure the cone to one's head. |
| Phrygian cap |  | The Phrygian cap is a soft cap with the top pulled forward. Associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia; from the French Revolution a symbol of revolution, liberty and republicanism – and in modern times with Smurfs. |
| Pileus |  | The pileus was, in Ancient Greece and Rome, a brimless, felt cap, somewhat similar to a fez. |
| Salakot |  | Usually made from rattan or reeds, this is a traditional hat from the Philippines. |
| Sugar loaf |  | This very tall, tapering hat was first worn in medieval times. Its name comes from the loaves into which sugar was formed at that time. [19] The sugar loaf hat is a kind of early top hat ending in a slightly rounded conical top. [20] |
| Tantour |  | Similar to the hennin, this woman's headdress was popular in the Eastern Mediterranean during the 19th century. [21] [22] The most ornate tantours were made of gold and reached as high as 30 inches (76 cm). Some were encrusted with gems and pearls. The tantour was held in by a ribbons tied around the head. A silk scarf was wound around the base with a white veil attached to the peak. [23] |
| Topor |  | A topor is worn during Bengali Hindu wedding ceremonies. It is usually white, fragile, and made of sholapith. |
| Witch hat |  | A tall, conical hat with a wide brim, which is typically black. It is commonly associated with European witches. |
The Saka were a group of nomadic Eastern Iranian peoples who historically inhabited the northern and eastern Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin.
The Phrygian cap or liberty cap is a soft conical cap with the apex bent over, associated in antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe, Anatolia and Asia, including the Persians, the Medes and the Scythians, as well as in the Balkans, Dacia, Thrace and in Phrygia, where the name originated. The oldest depiction of the Phrygian cap is from Persepolis in Iran.
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mechanical features, such as visors, spikes, flaps, braces or beer holders shade into the broader category of headgear.
The Indo-Scythians were a group of nomadic people of Iranic Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the northwestern Indian subcontinent: the present-day South Asian regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Eastern Iran and northern India. The migrations persisted from the middle of the second century BCE to the fourth century CE.
The Massagetae or Massageteans, also known as Sakā tigraxaudā or Orthocorybantians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian Saka people who inhabited the steppes of Central Asia and were part of the wider Scythian cultures. The Massagetae rose to power in the 8th to 7th centuries BCE, when they started a series of events with wide-reaching consequences by expelling the Scythians out of Central Asia and into the Caucasian and Pontic Steppes. The Massagetae are most famous for their queen Tomyris's alleged defeating and killing of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
The Tarim mummies are a series of mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang, China, which date from 1800 BCE to the first centuries BCE, with a new group of individuals recently dated to between c. 2100 and 1700 BCE. The Tarim population to which the earliest mummies belonged was agropastoral, and they lived circa 2000 BCE in what was formerly a freshwater environment, which has now become desertified.
The hennin was a headdress in the shape of a cone, steeple, or truncated cone worn in the Late Middle Ages by European women of the nobility. They were most common in Burgundy and France, but also elsewhere, especially at the English courts, and in Northern Europe, Hungary and Poland. They were little seen in Italy. It is unclear what styles the word hennin described at the time, though it is recorded as being used in French areas in 1428, probably before the conical style appeared. The word does not appear in English until the 19th century. The term is therefore used by some writers on costume for other female head-dresses of the period.
A bashlyk, also spelled bashlik, is a traditional Turkic, North Caucasian, Iranian, and Cossack cone-shaped hooded headdress, usually of leather, felt or wool, featuring a round topped bonnet with lappets for wrapping around the neck. Local versions determine the trim, which may consist of decorative cords, embroidery, jewelry, metallized strings, fur balls or tassels. Among dozens of versions are winter bashlyks worn atop regular headdress, cotton bashlyks, homeknitted bashlyks, silk bashlyks, scarf bashlyks, down bashlyks, dress bashlyks, jumpsuit-type bashlyks, etc. Bashlyks are used as traditional folk garment, and as uniform headdress.
The pileus was a brimless felt cap worn in Ancient Greece, Etruria, Illyria, later also introduced in Ancient Rome. The pileus also appears on Apulian red-figure pottery.
A capirote is a Catholic pointed hat of conical form that is used in Spain and Hispanic countries by members of a confraternity of penitents. It is part of the uniform of such brotherhoods including the Nazarenos and Fariseos during Easter observances and reenactments in some areas during Holy Week in Spain and its former colonies, though similar hoods are common in other Christian countries such as Italy. Capirote are worn by penitents so that attention is not drawn towards themselves as they repent, but instead to God.
A witch hat is a style of hat worn by witches in popular culture depictions, characterized by a conical crown and a wide brim.
The Amyrgians were a Saka tribe.
Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, decoration, or for religious or cultural reasons, including social conventions.
Tocharian clothing refers to clothing worn by the Tocharians. A series of murals from Kizil, Kizilgaha and Kumtura caves depicting Kuchean royalties, knights, swordsmen and donors have provided the best source of information on Tocharian costume. Their clothes were made of colourful, richly patterned fabric; a single- or double-lapel, belted caftan was very popular. This type of clothing was referred to as East Sassanid costume by Albert von Le Coq. However, Mariachiara Gasparini argued that the style was under various influences, which can not be easily categorised as being strictly "Sasanian".
Lingzi, also called zhiling, refers to a traditional Chinese ornament which uses long pheasant tail feather appendages to decorate some headdress in Xifu, Chinese opera costumes. In Chinese opera, the lingzi not only decorative purpose but are also used express thoughts, feelings, and the drama plot. They are typically used on the helmets of warriors, where a pair of pheasant feathers extensions are the indicators that the character is a warrior figure; the length of the feathers, on the other hand, is an indicator of the warrior's rank. The lingzi are generally about five or six feet long. Most of the time, lingzi are used to represent handsome military commanders.
The names of the Scythians are a topic of interest for classicists and linguists. The Scythians were an Iranic people best known for dominating much of the Pontic steppe from about 700 BC to 400 BC. The name of the Scythians is believed to be of Indo-European origin and to have meant "archer". The Scythians gave their name to the region of Scythia. The Persians referred to all Iranic nomads of the steppes, including the Scythians, as Sakas. Some modern scholars apply the name Scythians to all peoples of the Scytho-Siberian world, but this terminology is controversial.
The Subeshi culture, also Subeishi or Subeixi culture, is an Iron Age culture from the area of Shanshan County, Turfan, Xinjiang, at the eastern edge of the Tarim Basin. The Subeshi culture contributes some of the later period Tarim Mummies. It might be associated with the Cheshi state known from Chinese historical sources. The culture includes three closely related cemeteries:
The Sakâ tigrakhaudâ ('Sacae with pointed hats') were defeated in 520/519 BCE by the Persian king Darius I, who gave this tribe a new leader. One of the earlier leaders was killed, the other, named Skunkha, was taken captive and is visible on the relief at Behistun. (It is possible that Darius created a new tribe from several earlier tribes.) Herodotus calls the Sakâ tigrakhaudâ the Orthocorybantians ('pointed hat men'), and informs us that they lived in the same tax district as the Medes. This suggests that the Sakâ tigrakhaudâ lived on the banks of the ancient lower reaches of the Amudar'ya, which used to have a mouth in the Caspian Sea south of Krasnovodsk. The pointed hat is a kind of turban.
[The warrior's] conical fur-edged felt hat is a typical item of Cuman clothing
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