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Moscow State University
Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences
Tavrian national university named after V.I.Vernadsky
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Papers by Sergei Kainov
2012 rescue excavations in the area of the household at 82 Lenina Street, that is in the northern district of Okol’nyi Gorod (the area within the town walls but outside the kremlin) of Suzdal’, uncovered a large sabre blade fragment originating from a complex of buildings from the Rus’ period. The remains of the building where the blade was found are a rectangular pit 1.5 m deep, with vertical walls. Along the perimeter of the pit, there were the remains of planking, presumably made of thick, horizontally placed boards, secured in the slots of corner posts. The sabre blade fragment was found 3 to 7 cm above the bottom of the pit, to the south of the north-eastern corner post, on the inner side of the ditch running along the perimeter of the structure; the blade possibly laid along the board wall of the cellar. Generally, the assemblage of artefacts and pottery from the bottom part of the pit which contained the sabre blade possibly shaped not later than the late 12th or the first half of the 13th century.
The survived fragment is the upper half of a sabre, a shafted fragment of the blade band. The total length of thefragment is 53.5 cm; the length of blade band is 43.2 cm; the width of the band is 3.2–3.4 cm. The survived fragment of the blade band is slightly curved. Along the whole length of the blade, in its part adjoining the butt there is a groove ca. 1.2 cm wide on either side of the blade; on the blade band where it turns to the shaft there is a fragmented clip, rolledup of a thin (ca. 1 mm) iron sheet and put on the blade band.
According to the context of the Suzdal’ find, this sabre blade fragment dates from the late 12th to the first half of the 13th century. The morphological features of the Suzdal’ blade do not contradict to the suggested chronology. The find circumstances indicate that the sabre in question was already broken when it appeared in the cellar of the building; it was probably kept there as a valuable recyclable metal, or was used for household purposes. Nevertheless, in the light of the finds of bladed weapons already known in Suzdal’, there is no doubt that the sabre under analysis belonged to the complex of the Rus’ weaponry, typical of the centre of the Vladimir – Suzdal’ countries.
The article presents for the first time the striking heads of flails (close combat blunt weapon) which were found at the Gnezdovo archeological complex. Both founds are connected to the occupation earth of the settlement. One found origins from a rich grave of a horseman which was done by an inhumation ritual in a wooden chamber. The most probable date of Gnezdovo flails is the second half of the 10th century which corresponds to the dates of some earlier founds of this type of weapon in
Novgorod and Shestovitsy. Considering the wide distribution of flails among the population of the Khazar Khaganate as well as the similiarity of old Rus and Khazar striking heads, it is obvious that the Rus adopted the use of this weapon from the Khazars. This adoption was a part of the process of “orientalization” of old Rus‘armament complex which took part in the second half of the 10th century. The predominantly North European weapons and equipment mixed massively with military artifacts typical for peoples whose main military force were horsemen.
The article contains the results of a full-scale study of Smolensk Birchbark Letter No. 11, which earlier raised conflicting
opinions by philologists. The dispute was whether or not there are runic inscriptions on the letter. The study of characters
and the search for analogies led to the conclusion that the “runes” on the Smolensk Letter are ruling lines, similar to those
contained in Moscow Letter No. 2, found during excavations in the Kremlin in 2007. The Smolensk fragment of the letter
can be dated by the 15th – 16th centuries
The article presents the results of synchrotron and neutron visualization of a unique find – the iron pommel base sword unearthed during the works of the Suzdal archaeological expedition of the Institute of Archaeol- ogy RAS at the settlement of Krapivye 10 in Suzdal vicinity. The studies were conducted at National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, their task being to restore the pattern of a partially preserved decor on a heavily corroded object with non-destructive methods. The research revealed an inlaid decor made of silver and cop- per-alloy wires, which made it possible to identify the type of pommel (type V, according to J. Petersen’s ty- pology) and date it from the middle – second half of the 10th century. The find is among the earliest ones in Krapivye 10, a small settlement that emerged in the depths of ravine systems in the middle – second half of the 11th century.
a guard of another type. Some items of grave goods, the numismatic evidence and the inhumation rite in wooden chambers suggest the most probable date of burials in barrow 100 of Timerevo and barrow 42 at Shestovitsa within the limits of the last quarter of the 10th century. This fact, in turn, raises the question as to the correctness of the proposed
by Jan Petersen dating of this type to only the first half of the 10th century.
of this prestigious object in Rus still are unclear. Of Western origin are also two spurs with a hook end bent inwards. Unfortunately, in one case the context of the finding is unclear while in the second case it does not allow us to date narrowly the item. The majority of parallels of similar spurs are dated to the 8th–9th centuries although some examples come from younger associations. Considering the imported character of the abovementioned spurs it cannot be ruled out that also the fourth find from Gnezdovo also was an imported one. It was revealed among an
association of the second half of the 10th century and is marked by roughness of its manufacture. The Gnezdovo collection of spurs of the late 1st millennium AD is the most numerous and representative reflecting the initial period of the penetration by this category of rider’s equipment to the territory of Rus where spurs became widespread in the
material culture only in the 11th century.
During 2017-2020 excavations of sites CSXIX/2017–2020, CS-XXII/2018, CS-XXIII/2018 (together amounting to 400 sq.m.) a representative
numismatic material was collected. In order to verify the supposed location of hoard finds from the North-Eastern part of Central settlement systematic fieldwalking in search grids was carried out. An abnormal concentration of coin and jewellery finds was discovered consisting of 147 whole and fragmented dirhams, 3 lightweight bean-shaped silver
ingots, 12 whole and fragmented ornaments which supposedly belonged to hoards due to their material and manufacturing technique. The finds, thus, presumably constitute two ploughed-out hoards. The “Western” hoard from excavation site CS-XXII/2018 comprised 17 coins (8 whole, 1
clipped, 6 halves, 1 small quarter-shaped fragment, 1 blank), and is dated by the youngest coin – tpq 952/953. The “Eastern” hoard from excavation site CS-XIX-1-4/2017–2020 consisted of 41 coins (29 whole, 4 with loops, 8 fragments) and silver artifacts, and is dated by the youngest coin – tpq 953/954. The ornaments include 5 lunula pendant
fragments, a bead with granulation, another bead fragment, finger-rings fragments and an unidentified ornament fragment. Presumably, two beanshaped ingots (4 and 11 g in weight) were also part of this hoard. It is not unlikely that the hoard may have also included a cubic iron padlock of type A, which according to evidence from Veliky Novgorod
appeared in 930–950. The artifacts of the “eastern” hoard are analogous to the composition of other hoards found on the territory of the Central settlement in 1870, 1885, 1993 и 2001 and are dated to the middle – 2nd half 10th c. Another 65 coins were supposedly not part of any hoard. The earliest chronological fraction comprises six 9th c. coins, three of which may have been in association. Among the rest 59 coin fragments 36 are dated to the 900–960-s. The sheer amount of mid-10th c. hoards deposited in a limited area over a short period of time leaves Gnezdovo with no parallel among Viking age settlements in Eastern Europe.
This article presents an examination of chain mail armor, including fragments of mail and individual mail rings that were discovered during excavations of the Gnezdovo archaeological complex. Two chain mail shirts (1+1?) and three aventails (2+1?) were found in burials. Unfortunately, these artifacts are poorly preserved and it is not possible
to determine the exact shape of the garments. The finds are made completely of iron rings and only one aventail contains bands of rings made of copper alloy. The chain mail shirts and aventails were manufactured from riveted and solid rings. The rings in the chain mail range from 10 to 13 mm in diameter, one aventail is made of rings 6–8 mm in diameter and the other – of rings 10–11 mm in diameter.
Small fragments of chain mail have been found in several burials (mostly belonging to women). Perhaps those, who had conducted the burials centuries ago, had considered some of these pieces to be
amulets with magical defensive properties. Over 80 fragments of chain mail and individual rings have been found in the Gnezdovo settlement’s territory. No other Old Rus’ archaeological site has a similar
concentration of chain mail artifacts. Twelve rings (8 solid and 4 riveted) underwent metallographic and spectroscopic analyses, as well as
micro-hardness testing. Six out of the eight solid rings were punched from sheet metal. They have oval- and lens-shaped cross-sections, which indicates that after having been punched from sheet metal they were subjected to grinding or pressing in a die. The remaining two were made of wire bent into a ring shape and welded closed by forging. In most cases the mail rings were produced from pure iron or non-homogeneous carburized blooming iron or steel. In two cases the
rings were made from high-carbon (<0.8% С) and medium-carbon (0.4–0.5% С) steel. The iron used in the manufacture of all but one ring had a high concentration of manganese (between 0.34 and 1.57 %) and a
low concentration of phosphorus (less than 0.09%). The one exception was a ring with a phosphorus concentration of 0.3%. Some of the mail rings also contained traces of nickel, cobalt and manganese. This examination of mail rings from Gnezdovo lays the foundation for the creation of a database, which could eventually be used to satisfactorily resolve the question of where the chain mail found on the territory of Old Rus’ has been manufactured.
In the difficult sandy and sandy loam soils of the mounds of the Gnyozdovo complex, electric prospecting, which works on the edge of the method, proves to be the most effective. It has a number of tangible advantages: it confidently identifies disturbances of mounds associated with later interventions or earlier excavations of the 19th - early 20th centuries, allows us to clearly define the structural elements of the mound embankment (ditches). Rite identification is not unconditional in some cases. The method does not allow an accurate interpretation of the structural features of the burial structure that are revealed by the excavation. If the barrow contains an in situ cremation, the pyre layer is fairly confidently recorded by individual anomalies. The method also allows the contours of the sub-kurgan pits of the inhumation rite to be determined. This proved well in the study of chamber burials L-206 and L-207 in the Lesnaya barrow group in 2017.
In the case of the study of ruined barrows, overlain by the settlement layer of the 2nd half of the 10th century, it becomes effective to combine the methods involving auxiliary procedures (magnetic survey combined with cappametry and electrical survey in 2D- and 3D-variations). Electro-tomography makes it possible to identify trenches of ruined barrows overlapping the cultural layer of an early medieval settlement and to specify their dimensional characteristics, depth and location in space.
Herzegovina was found in the village of Trnčina near Ljubinje, and donated to the museum more than a century ago. The
following paper is the first detailed publication of this artefact. The first part of the paper contains a description of the helmet
while the second discusses its dating and place on the timeline of the evolution of warrior headgear. As a result of the research
it is possible to draw the conclusion that the Trnčina helmet was made and then altered in the 11th century.
2012 rescue excavations in the area of the household at 82 Lenina Street, that is in the northern district of Okol’nyi Gorod (the area within the town walls but outside the kremlin) of Suzdal’, uncovered a large sabre blade fragment originating from a complex of buildings from the Rus’ period. The remains of the building where the blade was found are a rectangular pit 1.5 m deep, with vertical walls. Along the perimeter of the pit, there were the remains of planking, presumably made of thick, horizontally placed boards, secured in the slots of corner posts. The sabre blade fragment was found 3 to 7 cm above the bottom of the pit, to the south of the north-eastern corner post, on the inner side of the ditch running along the perimeter of the structure; the blade possibly laid along the board wall of the cellar. Generally, the assemblage of artefacts and pottery from the bottom part of the pit which contained the sabre blade possibly shaped not later than the late 12th or the first half of the 13th century.
The survived fragment is the upper half of a sabre, a shafted fragment of the blade band. The total length of thefragment is 53.5 cm; the length of blade band is 43.2 cm; the width of the band is 3.2–3.4 cm. The survived fragment of the blade band is slightly curved. Along the whole length of the blade, in its part adjoining the butt there is a groove ca. 1.2 cm wide on either side of the blade; on the blade band where it turns to the shaft there is a fragmented clip, rolledup of a thin (ca. 1 mm) iron sheet and put on the blade band.
According to the context of the Suzdal’ find, this sabre blade fragment dates from the late 12th to the first half of the 13th century. The morphological features of the Suzdal’ blade do not contradict to the suggested chronology. The find circumstances indicate that the sabre in question was already broken when it appeared in the cellar of the building; it was probably kept there as a valuable recyclable metal, or was used for household purposes. Nevertheless, in the light of the finds of bladed weapons already known in Suzdal’, there is no doubt that the sabre under analysis belonged to the complex of the Rus’ weaponry, typical of the centre of the Vladimir – Suzdal’ countries.
The article presents for the first time the striking heads of flails (close combat blunt weapon) which were found at the Gnezdovo archeological complex. Both founds are connected to the occupation earth of the settlement. One found origins from a rich grave of a horseman which was done by an inhumation ritual in a wooden chamber. The most probable date of Gnezdovo flails is the second half of the 10th century which corresponds to the dates of some earlier founds of this type of weapon in
Novgorod and Shestovitsy. Considering the wide distribution of flails among the population of the Khazar Khaganate as well as the similiarity of old Rus and Khazar striking heads, it is obvious that the Rus adopted the use of this weapon from the Khazars. This adoption was a part of the process of “orientalization” of old Rus‘armament complex which took part in the second half of the 10th century. The predominantly North European weapons and equipment mixed massively with military artifacts typical for peoples whose main military force were horsemen.
The article contains the results of a full-scale study of Smolensk Birchbark Letter No. 11, which earlier raised conflicting
opinions by philologists. The dispute was whether or not there are runic inscriptions on the letter. The study of characters
and the search for analogies led to the conclusion that the “runes” on the Smolensk Letter are ruling lines, similar to those
contained in Moscow Letter No. 2, found during excavations in the Kremlin in 2007. The Smolensk fragment of the letter
can be dated by the 15th – 16th centuries
The article presents the results of synchrotron and neutron visualization of a unique find – the iron pommel base sword unearthed during the works of the Suzdal archaeological expedition of the Institute of Archaeol- ogy RAS at the settlement of Krapivye 10 in Suzdal vicinity. The studies were conducted at National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, their task being to restore the pattern of a partially preserved decor on a heavily corroded object with non-destructive methods. The research revealed an inlaid decor made of silver and cop- per-alloy wires, which made it possible to identify the type of pommel (type V, according to J. Petersen’s ty- pology) and date it from the middle – second half of the 10th century. The find is among the earliest ones in Krapivye 10, a small settlement that emerged in the depths of ravine systems in the middle – second half of the 11th century.
a guard of another type. Some items of grave goods, the numismatic evidence and the inhumation rite in wooden chambers suggest the most probable date of burials in barrow 100 of Timerevo and barrow 42 at Shestovitsa within the limits of the last quarter of the 10th century. This fact, in turn, raises the question as to the correctness of the proposed
by Jan Petersen dating of this type to only the first half of the 10th century.
of this prestigious object in Rus still are unclear. Of Western origin are also two spurs with a hook end bent inwards. Unfortunately, in one case the context of the finding is unclear while in the second case it does not allow us to date narrowly the item. The majority of parallels of similar spurs are dated to the 8th–9th centuries although some examples come from younger associations. Considering the imported character of the abovementioned spurs it cannot be ruled out that also the fourth find from Gnezdovo also was an imported one. It was revealed among an
association of the second half of the 10th century and is marked by roughness of its manufacture. The Gnezdovo collection of spurs of the late 1st millennium AD is the most numerous and representative reflecting the initial period of the penetration by this category of rider’s equipment to the territory of Rus where spurs became widespread in the
material culture only in the 11th century.
During 2017-2020 excavations of sites CSXIX/2017–2020, CS-XXII/2018, CS-XXIII/2018 (together amounting to 400 sq.m.) a representative
numismatic material was collected. In order to verify the supposed location of hoard finds from the North-Eastern part of Central settlement systematic fieldwalking in search grids was carried out. An abnormal concentration of coin and jewellery finds was discovered consisting of 147 whole and fragmented dirhams, 3 lightweight bean-shaped silver
ingots, 12 whole and fragmented ornaments which supposedly belonged to hoards due to their material and manufacturing technique. The finds, thus, presumably constitute two ploughed-out hoards. The “Western” hoard from excavation site CS-XXII/2018 comprised 17 coins (8 whole, 1
clipped, 6 halves, 1 small quarter-shaped fragment, 1 blank), and is dated by the youngest coin – tpq 952/953. The “Eastern” hoard from excavation site CS-XIX-1-4/2017–2020 consisted of 41 coins (29 whole, 4 with loops, 8 fragments) and silver artifacts, and is dated by the youngest coin – tpq 953/954. The ornaments include 5 lunula pendant
fragments, a bead with granulation, another bead fragment, finger-rings fragments and an unidentified ornament fragment. Presumably, two beanshaped ingots (4 and 11 g in weight) were also part of this hoard. It is not unlikely that the hoard may have also included a cubic iron padlock of type A, which according to evidence from Veliky Novgorod
appeared in 930–950. The artifacts of the “eastern” hoard are analogous to the composition of other hoards found on the territory of the Central settlement in 1870, 1885, 1993 и 2001 and are dated to the middle – 2nd half 10th c. Another 65 coins were supposedly not part of any hoard. The earliest chronological fraction comprises six 9th c. coins, three of which may have been in association. Among the rest 59 coin fragments 36 are dated to the 900–960-s. The sheer amount of mid-10th c. hoards deposited in a limited area over a short period of time leaves Gnezdovo with no parallel among Viking age settlements in Eastern Europe.
This article presents an examination of chain mail armor, including fragments of mail and individual mail rings that were discovered during excavations of the Gnezdovo archaeological complex. Two chain mail shirts (1+1?) and three aventails (2+1?) were found in burials. Unfortunately, these artifacts are poorly preserved and it is not possible
to determine the exact shape of the garments. The finds are made completely of iron rings and only one aventail contains bands of rings made of copper alloy. The chain mail shirts and aventails were manufactured from riveted and solid rings. The rings in the chain mail range from 10 to 13 mm in diameter, one aventail is made of rings 6–8 mm in diameter and the other – of rings 10–11 mm in diameter.
Small fragments of chain mail have been found in several burials (mostly belonging to women). Perhaps those, who had conducted the burials centuries ago, had considered some of these pieces to be
amulets with magical defensive properties. Over 80 fragments of chain mail and individual rings have been found in the Gnezdovo settlement’s territory. No other Old Rus’ archaeological site has a similar
concentration of chain mail artifacts. Twelve rings (8 solid and 4 riveted) underwent metallographic and spectroscopic analyses, as well as
micro-hardness testing. Six out of the eight solid rings were punched from sheet metal. They have oval- and lens-shaped cross-sections, which indicates that after having been punched from sheet metal they were subjected to grinding or pressing in a die. The remaining two were made of wire bent into a ring shape and welded closed by forging. In most cases the mail rings were produced from pure iron or non-homogeneous carburized blooming iron or steel. In two cases the
rings were made from high-carbon (<0.8% С) and medium-carbon (0.4–0.5% С) steel. The iron used in the manufacture of all but one ring had a high concentration of manganese (between 0.34 and 1.57 %) and a
low concentration of phosphorus (less than 0.09%). The one exception was a ring with a phosphorus concentration of 0.3%. Some of the mail rings also contained traces of nickel, cobalt and manganese. This examination of mail rings from Gnezdovo lays the foundation for the creation of a database, which could eventually be used to satisfactorily resolve the question of where the chain mail found on the territory of Old Rus’ has been manufactured.
In the difficult sandy and sandy loam soils of the mounds of the Gnyozdovo complex, electric prospecting, which works on the edge of the method, proves to be the most effective. It has a number of tangible advantages: it confidently identifies disturbances of mounds associated with later interventions or earlier excavations of the 19th - early 20th centuries, allows us to clearly define the structural elements of the mound embankment (ditches). Rite identification is not unconditional in some cases. The method does not allow an accurate interpretation of the structural features of the burial structure that are revealed by the excavation. If the barrow contains an in situ cremation, the pyre layer is fairly confidently recorded by individual anomalies. The method also allows the contours of the sub-kurgan pits of the inhumation rite to be determined. This proved well in the study of chamber burials L-206 and L-207 in the Lesnaya barrow group in 2017.
In the case of the study of ruined barrows, overlain by the settlement layer of the 2nd half of the 10th century, it becomes effective to combine the methods involving auxiliary procedures (magnetic survey combined with cappametry and electrical survey in 2D- and 3D-variations). Electro-tomography makes it possible to identify trenches of ruined barrows overlapping the cultural layer of an early medieval settlement and to specify their dimensional characteristics, depth and location in space.
Herzegovina was found in the village of Trnčina near Ljubinje, and donated to the museum more than a century ago. The
following paper is the first detailed publication of this artefact. The first part of the paper contains a description of the helmet
while the second discusses its dating and place on the timeline of the evolution of warrior headgear. As a result of the research
it is possible to draw the conclusion that the Trnčina helmet was made and then altered in the 11th century.
set of objects of Scandinavian origin in the cultural layers dating to the second half of the 10th to the first half of the 11th centuries, and b) the highest concentration of birch bark manuscripts in Novgorod is located in homestead “Zh”’s 12th century cultural layer.
Представленный вашему вниманию четвертый выпуск сборника статей "Военная археология" (Acta Archaeologiae Militaris), содержит в себе работы, затрагивающие широкий исторический диапазон от эпохи «позднего латена» до Нового времени. Одновременно он является публикацией материалов второй оружиеведческой конференции на Куликовом поле, которая проводилась по инициативе Проблемного совета «Военная археология» в 2014 г.
Семинар «Военная археология» был создан в 2001 г. в рамках Музея археологии города Москвы и являлся первым в России специализированным военно-археологическим учреждением. Через два года он получил статус Проблемного совета при Государственном Историческом Музее. С 2015 г. наше научное объединение существует под эгидой Института археологии РАН в качестве научного семинара «Военная археология».
За годы существования семинара было подготовлено четыре сборника и две монографии.
Oral presentation #625.
Session titel: Spatial and Environmental Contexts of Barrow Landscapes. Theories and
Methods of Barrows Investigation in Modern Archaeology
"48th Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Conference (14 - 17 April) "
Session: S23. Large-scale and intensive computational workflows in archaeological remote sensing: from big data to data science (Standard)