File:Tashtyk culture funeral masks.jpg

English: Saint Ptetersburg 2013: Interesting tidbits in the Hermitage Museum. Culture of Taštyk (I - V century AD.): has elements of great interest especially in the funerary practices. The deceased were subjected to two different types of treatment, depending on the sex and age: burial after partial mummification (women and adolescents) or incineration (men). Connected with the ritual of mummification was the realization of masks which reproduced the appearance of the deceased, obtained by applying a layer of plaster directly to his face covered with a silk cloth; these masks, especially female ones, were then decorated with drawings (usually spirals) performed in red on the forehead, cheeks and chin, probably reproductions of tattoos. For men, the remains of incineration were collected in a bag of leather or birch bark which was placed inside a "puppet" made of leather and stuffed with grass. Mummies and "puppets" were deposited in tombs in the supine position.