A pressed-felt rug where dyed wool is rolled into the surface, giving softer, slightly blurred patterns. Simpler and warmer than a shyrdak.

A five-sided trapping that hung on the flank of the wedding camel. Usually woven in pairs and densely decorated.

A door rug (also called hatchli) hung over the entrance of a yurt. Its field is divided by a cross into four panels.

A non-woven textile: wool fibres are matted together with moisture, heat and pressure. The base of nomadic floor coverings.

A pileless rug woven by interlacing warp and weft. Lighter and thinner than a knotted carpet; the pattern is the same on both faces.

A repeating medallion that acts as a tribal emblem on Turkmen carpets. Each tribe — Tekke, Yomut, Saryk — has its own recognisable gül.

A flatwoven, pileless rug built from geometric blocks of colour. Reversible and well suited to layering.

The ram's-horn motif — a pair of curling spirals. The most common steppe symbol, standing for wealth, abundance and fertility.

A knotted carpet: short tufts of wool or silk are knotted onto the warp and trimmed, giving a soft, dense, hard-wearing surface.

A Kyrgyz mosaic-felt carpet: two contrasting felts are cut to the same pattern and inlaid so positive and negative swap places.

A large floral motif from Uzbek embroidery — rosettes, vines and pomegranates scattered across the field. A symbol of fertility and good fortune.

The Kazakh equivalent of the shyrdak: a felt mosaic of two cut-and-stitched colours, often quilted, used to dress the yurt floor.

A Kazakh pressed-felt rug: the design is laid in coloured wool and rolled directly into the felt, so the motifs look soft-edged.

A warp-faced patterned weave: the design is carried by the warp threads, producing crisp narrow bands often joined into runners.