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THE MASKS
The costume of Merdules represents a rough, humpbacked and uncouth cattleman wearing sheep pelts. His face is hidden by a grotesque anthropomorphous mask which is called sa carazza. It is almost always made of wild pear-tree and sometimes is adorned with carvings and colored flourishing engraved on its surface..
Boes also wear sheep pelts with a belt adorned with heavy cowbells across their chests. Their faces are hidden by masks called sa carazza ‘e boe which are designed to look like an ox.
Besides these costumes which are the main characters of the carnival in Ottana, there are other zoomorphic and anthropomorphous figures: from su porcu (pig) to donkeys, from deer to sa filonzana which represents a spinner who is always bent over at right angle to the road. She wears a black shawl and a is dressed in female clothes except surprisingly for the real leather leggings which are typically worn by male shepherds.
There are also sas mascaras serias which are eccentric dancing figures covered in rags, shirts, sheets and also carpets.