Pointed hats have been a distinctive item of headgear of a wide range of cultures throughout history. Though 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. The Kabiri of New Guinea have the diba, a pointed hat glued together.
Textile analysis of the Tarim Mummies has shown some similarities to the Iron Age civilizations of Europe dating from 800 BC, including woven twill and tartan patterns strikingly similar to tartans from Northern Europe. One unusual find was a distinctively pointed hat: Pointed hats were also worn in ancient times by Saka, and are shown on Hindu temples and in Hittite reliefs. As described by Herodotus, the name of the Scythian tribe of the tigrakhauda is a bahuvrihi compound literally translating to "people with pointed hats". Besides the Scythians, the Cabeiri as well as Odysseus are traditionally pictured wearing a Pilos, or woolen conical hat.
The 13th-century Cumans commonly wore scythian style pointed hats, and are reported to have fought wearing them. Originating from the Japanese Heian period, the kazaori eboshi was worn by aristocrats to indicate rank. Still worn today for ceremonial purposes, this black linen hat was used during a samurai's ceremony in attaining manhood. wearing a Jewish hat 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. Medieval Jewish men wore distinctive headgear as required by European Christian authorities. This included the pointed Jewish hat already worn by Jews, a piece of clothing probably imported from the Islamic world and perhaps before that from Persia. Popular among Burgundian noblewomen in the 15th century was a type of conical headgear now called a hennin.
Modern times
The Spitzhut is a traditional kind of headgear in Bavaria. Pointed hoods were used by various orders and Catholic lay confraternities for processions, e.g. the Semana Santa of Sevilla who wore the Capirote. Pointed hats are still worn in the rural LouisianaMardi Gras celebrations by the Cajuns, the Courir de Mardi Gras, where they are known as capuchons. The Ku Klux Klan has worn this headgear since its first era. 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. The May Dayhobby horses of Padstow and Minehead in southwest England have pointed hats with masks attached.
