Representation of the concepts of "churn" and "hand mill" as objects of traditional household utensils in Ingushetia

Bersanova Zaira Yunusovna Researcher, IngNII GN 386001, Russia, Republic of Ingushetia, Magas, Malsagova str., 11 zabitagirova@yandex.ru

Kulbuzheva Tamara Akhmetovna Researcher, IngNII GN 386001, Russia, Republic of Ingushetia, Magas, Malsagova str., 11 zabitagirova@yandex.ru

The study of the history of the origin and development of crafts and crafts of the population of the Ingush people is the most important scientific direction in the national historical science. This allows us to form a holistic view of the history of crafts and crafts for the production of flour and butter, as well as the processes of flour and butter production that existed in ancient times ^{[1; 2]}.

The socio-economic and cultural growth of a society can be assessed by examining the level of development of crafts in different historical periods. It is known that nutrition is the basis of the vital activity of living organisms.

A person consumes food to maintain his vital functions. Flour and butter are the main components of the human diet. The grinding of grain into flour and the production of butter, which originated in ancient times, remains an important industry in the modern food industry, which requires careful study. In addition, it can be said that the study of their history determines the patterns of origin, transformation and development of flour and butter industries. Material analysis and generalization indicate that since ancient times, people have sought to obtain flour and butter of the highest quality, as a result of which this craft has been continuously developing over the centuries. In this regard, the study of the history of flour and oilseed production of the Ingush population is one of the pressing problems of historical science ^{[3; 4; 5;]}.

Historical types of crafts and crafts related to the production of flour and butter have their own characteristics, which determine the need to be considered not only from the point of view of historical science, but also from the point of view of archaeological and ethnographic science ^{[6; 7, pp. 562-564; 8, pp. 317-322]}.

It attracts the attention of scientists from different fields to the study of the history of flour and butter production: historians, orientalists, archaeologists, ethnographers, as well as history buffs, local historians and enthusiasts.

It was difficult to imagine the Ingush dwelling in the middle of the XIX – early XX centuries without numerous utensils and household products.

The study of utensils provides ethnographers and cultural historians with very valuable material for understanding the peculiarities of the culture of the past. Being one of the essential features of household life, utensils are characterized by significant conservatism ^{[9, p.76]}.

  Homemade butter (ing. "nalh") played an important role in the Ingush diet.  It was produced from fresh milk using special churn containers. It can be said that until the end of the 20th century, the peoples of the North Caucasus themselves produced oil at home. The most important ingredient of dairy products was melted butter "Masha daytta", which could be stored in large quantities for a long time. Ingush ethnographer Mereshkov S. A. writes: "... for the future, for several years even in advance, melted butter was harvested – "masha daytta", "deja daytta". The butter was stored in an earthenware dish" ^{[10, p. 411]}. To make it, butter was reheated in a cauldron or aluminum dish, gradually adding a little salt and flour. This heating process gave the housewives a fragrant golden oil, which could be stored in large volumes for a long time. The "lok" gruel formed after heating the oil was used to treat children. Before the advent of the wooden churn of the Caucasian type, the main component of nutrition in the Ingush family was obtained using a clay churn. Such fragile utensils had to be handled very carefully. Clay products have long been popular in the Ingush household. The development of this pottery production is evidenced by archaeological excavations. In the Ingush State Museum of Local Lore, the collection of pottery abounds in richness and variety of shapes. Jugs with a wider neck ("khimar") – "giba" were intended for storing butter and sour cream. The squat clay churn jug "kura" // "kuvra" with a spherical body and two handles also differed in shape. Sour cream with water was poured into such a churn, it was swung from side to side, the water hit the walls of the vessel hard, speeding up the process of churning the oil. The oil was churned mainly by elderly women with the help of their granddaughters. "Rather than beating a tambourine, it is better to beat a butter churn "Fata ettachul, kulg biyttacha tol" – people said.

Kuvra, kuvra, kuvra I,

Thirkal bokkhag1a nalha ba,

Sholzhal dokkhag1a shara yes,

Luvsa, luvsa, shura luvsa,

Bokkha nalha thona bakkha. ^{[11, p.201]}.

Kuvra, kuvra kuvra is

There is more Terek oil,

There is more Sunji buttermilk,

Whisk, whisk, whisk the milk,

Prepare a lot of butter for us, – such an ancient song was sung by Ingush women when churning butter with a clay churn.  However, this ancient oil production technology had its own prohibitions and beliefs.  Akieva P. H. in her ethnographic work writes: "Only women churned butter. Not all women did this, but only those who had a "light hand". Especially this activity was forbidden to women who returned from the funeral. It was forbidden to enter the room where the butter was beaten for the woman in labor, if forty days had not passed after the birth. It was forbidden for a woman to enter this room in the last days of pregnancy" ^{[12, p. 37]}.

In Dagestan, interesting rituals were performed among the Botlikhs, allegedly speeding up the processes of obtaining oil. At the very beginning of the process, the woman had to be shod. After shaking the churn several times, she could continue her work with her mind. There was another custom. Just before the start, the woman had to stand over the churn, cover it with her dress and shake it several times while standing ^{[13, p.73]}. For comparative analysis, this type of home production can be compared with the churns of other Caucasian peoples. "Churning butter from different peoples had their own traditional characteristics. Even the churn vessel was different. The Kumyks, Terekemen, and Azerbaijanis had a clay jug for churning butter, while the Nogais and Azerbaijanis had a wooden one. All these types of churns had different shapes and sizes. The Kumyks, Terekemen and Azerbaijanis had them in the form of a rounded vessel with two ears and a narrow throat, while the Nogais had the shape of a tall and narrow barrel with a long handle" ^{[14, p.135]}. Among the Nogais, this vessel was called "kubi", among the southern Kumyks "suyreme" (which means "to drag" in translation), among the Terekemen and Azerbaijanis – "nehre" or "negre" ^{[13, p.135]}.

      With the development of woodworking, like other household utensils, churns began to be made of wood. Trees of such breeds as oak, maple, linden, hazel were used to create various household utensils and household items.

      The construction of a wooden or "pusher" churn of the Caucasian type consisted of 8 planks assembled into a cylindrical body tapering upwards. These plaques were fastened with metal hoops. The bottom of the churn was round and attached to the body by means of recesses. The lid was round in shape with a cruciform screw at the end. In order for the churn to last longer and be stronger, the master lowered it into water for a while during manufacture. This process allowed the planks to fit tightly to each other, without forming cracks. The Ingush State Museum of Local Lore presents an ancient wooden churn with a total height of 85 cm, the height of the planks is 60 cm. The circumference at the base is 54 cm, the width of the hoop is 2.5 cm. The length of the pestle is 78 cm. The churn consists of 3 parts: wooden cylindrical barrel (body), lid and nest. The cylindrical body consists of 12 vertical planks fastened together with three iron hoops. The lid consists of two parts, the upper part is an octagon. There is a cone-shaped recess with a through hole in the middle of the lid. The inner part of the lid is a circle with a diameter of 12 cm. The pest consists of two parts: a long round wooden handle, to which a round base with four recesses is attached.

      On such a churn, women began to cook butter, or rather, to churn cream or sour cream (eng. "t1oa luvsa"), in the evening, after all the business. The milk was boiled and left overnight. In the morning, cream was collected from the settled milk into a churn. These creams were beaten down with a special "pest" stick, gradually adding morning milk to the mixture.  In addition to these churns, the Ingush highlanders were known for leather wineskins (eng. "lazhg"). Those who went to the field took these wineskins with them, filling them with sour cream. By noon, butter was already formed from sour cream and buttermilk (ing. "ball") was separated, which quenched thirst very well on a sultry day.

      With the development of production, the need for labor-intensive mass home cooking of butter has disappeared.  But even in modern times, some Ingush women have managed to preserve these traditional skills.

"Kalkhyar" is another means of home production, an ancient Ingush hand mill (eng. "kara khestayu khyira"), with which grain was ground. It was a simple portable device that consists of two flat stones (50-60 cm in diameter) that were placed on top of each other. An iron rod was attached in the middle, and the upper stone was attached to it.  A handle was mounted to the edge of the upper millstone for convenient rotation of the upper load. Corn kernels were poured into the holes and rotated.  The productivity of such a mill was small. "On a stationary smooth millstone, 10-12 vershkov across, an upper millstone of almost the same size is laid, with a small hole in the center for filling the grains; a small handle is hollowed out in its surface from the edge, with which the millstone is driven in a circular motion" ^{[15, p.50]}.

In the oral folk art of the Ingush, the choruses have been preserved when working on such a manual mill (hand mill):

                Kalhyar khestaecha hana oalash hinna illi

                                      Ma–gatz, ma–gatz,

                                      Halo-oh yeah, halo-oh yeah…

                                      Saiga bital, bital saiga,

                                      Saiga bital, bital saiga....

                                      Not mo-goo, not mo-goo,

                                      It's hard for me, it's hard for the ATO…

                                      I can handle this grain myself,

                                      I can handle this grain myself…

                                  Hjovza, kalhjar

                                      Khyovza, kalkhyar, khyovza kalkhyar,

                                      Betta mazharg buargba,

                                      Khyovza, kalkhyar, khyovza kalkhyar,

                                      Betta mazharg buargba…

                                     Spin, hand, spin, hand,

                                     I'm going to eat baked cheesecake

                                     Spin, hand, spin, hand,

                                     I will eat baked cheesecake... ^{[11, p.199]}.

Considering household utensils, household tools, it can be concluded that they have found various applications in everyday life. With the eviction of the Ingush highlanders to the plain, changes began to occur in the culture of life support. Some distinctive features of the lifestyle have disappeared without a trace from the national way of life. Today, many tangible cultural values have been replaced by industrial goods, and with them the names of these objects have disappeared from dictionaries ^{[16; 17; 18; 19, pp. 26-33; 20, pp. 119-121]}. Based on the characteristics of the classification of places, roles and importance occupied by handicraft and commercial enterprises related to the production of flour and butter, it is necessary to maintain the continuity of traditional crafts and crafts in the economic and social life of the population and the preservation of traditional flour and butter production.

The results of the research can be used not only in Ingushetia, but also in other republics on the territory of the Russian Federation to write general works on historical and cultural research topics, when reading lectures and special courses on the subjects "History of the Ingush people", "History of folk crafts", "History of Culture of Ingushetia". The practical significance of this work lies in the fact that the research results can be applied to the creation of ethnographic complexes, tourist sites and museums on the history of crafts.

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