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] Conical hats were also popular in late medieval Vijayanagar, India.[ citation needed ]
The conical golden hats of Bronze Age Central Europe were probably a ceremonial accessory worn by the priesthood. The "Golden Man" of Issyk kurgan was Scythian in the 4th century who was buried wearing golden armor including a conical scythian hat.[ citation needed ]
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]
The Papal tiara in the Middle Ages is sometimes shown as more pointed than in more recent centuries, though also shown with no point. Mitra papalis is a type of conch named after the papal mitre for its form.[ citation needed ]
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]
From the 13th to the 15th centuries, the liripipe hood was commonplace, where the rear of the hood was considerably extended (to a meter or more) in a conical form, which was variously worn as a scarf, or allowed to hang behind, in the form now commonly found now in academic robes.[ citation needed ]
The Spitzhut is a traditional kind of headgear in Bavaria.[ citation needed ]
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, Shaka, or Sacae were a group of nomadic Eastern Iranian peoples who historically inhabited the northern and eastern Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin.
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.
Indo-Scythians were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples of Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the northwestern Indian subcontinent, precisely into the modern-day South Asian regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. The migrations persisted from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE.
Horned helmets were worn by many people around the world. Headpieces mounted with animal horns or replicas were also worn since ancient history, as in the Mesolithic Star Carr. These were probably used for religious ceremonial or ritual purposes, as horns tend to be impractical on a combat helmet. Much of the evidence for these helmets and headpieces comes from depictions rather than the items themselves.
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.
A capuchon is a cone-shaped ceremonial hat worn during the Mardi Gras celebration in the Cajun areas of southern Louisiana, known as the Courir de Mardi Gras. The rural celebration is based on early begging rituals, similar to those still celebrated by mummers, wassailers and celebrants of Halloween. As Mardi Gras is the celebration of the final day before Lent, celebrants drink and eat heavily, but dress in costume, ostensibly to protect their identities.
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. This headgear was inspired by the headgear then current in the Mongol court.
The kokoshnik is a traditional Russian headdress worn by women and girls to accompany the sarafan. The kokoshnik tradition has existed since the 10th century in the ancient city Veliky Novgorod, part of Kievan Rus' then. It spread primarily in the northern regions of Russia and was very popular from 16th to 19th century. It is still to this day an important feature of Russian dance ensembles and folk culture and inspired the Kokoshnik style of architecture.
Fashion in 15th-century Europe was characterized by a series of extremes and extravagances, from the voluminous robes called houppelandes with their sweeping floor-length sleeves to the revealing doublets and hose of Renaissance Italy. Hats, hoods, and other headdresses assumed increasing importance, and were draped, jeweled, and feathered.
Costume during the thirteenth century in Europe was relatively simple in its shapes, rich in colour for both men and women, and quite uniform across the Roman Catholic world as the Gothic style started its spread all over Europe in dress, architecture, and other arts.
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.
The tantour (tantoor) is a form of cone-shaped women's headdress similar to the hennin, popular in the Levant during the nineteenth century, but seldom seen after 1850 outside of use as a folk costume.
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.
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.
An escoffion was a piece of female medieval headwear which was popular during the Late Middle Ages (1250–1500). It originated and was popular in European countries such as England, France and Germany, and other Balkan states. The headpiece was made out of a thick, circular roll of material like wool, felt or silk. The material was shaped, by sewing or starching, into a double-horned configuration, with each horn sometimes being up to a yard long. Over the headdress, gauze or silk was sometimes draped for weight distribution or aesthetic purposes. The escoffion style was a sub-branch of a popular style of headwear called hennin.
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".
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
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)