Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2016 number

The presented paper is devoted to the technology of making traditional Buryat bows and the archery competitions of Buryats. The author used the comparative-historical method to study in detail the bow manufacturing techniques in the past and today, to track changes in the use of different production techniques and materials. Thus, the author describes natural materials and requirements imposed by the Buryat masters which define technical characteristics of future bows and arrows. Process of preparation of materials for future bows, production of tendinous and fish glue is considered, the manufacturing techniques of traditional Buryat bows in old times thereby are in detail described. The article investigates the record of innovations in production of the Buryat bows, use of plastic slips, synthetic glue, i.e. those materials that appeared nowadays. Therefore, it delineates changes in manufacturing techniques of modern Buryat bows. In addition, the author compares characteristics of bows and methods of stretching bows made of natural and synthetic materials. The paper describes three types of competitions on archery which were carried out in the past. Today during summer holidays only one type of competition - leather target archery is carried out. This kind of competition is the most spectacular one and, most likely, this is the reason why it remained up to now. The author describes in detail the rules of competition and composition of participants. An interesting aspect of this research also lies in the fact that it has a practical character: the descriptions given in it can quite be put into practice. The article is written on the materials of the author’s field research conducted in 2014 among the Buryats living in the Aginsk Buryat District of Zabaykalsky Krai. Along with these data the archival materials concerning archery and rules of competitions were used.