Summary
Ye.V.Kruglov (Volgograd, Russia)
PECHENEG AND OGUZ TRIBES: CERTAIN PROBLEMS OF ARCHEOLOGICAL SOURCES
The article deals with certain problems of the archeology of medieval pecheneg and oguz tribes which inhabited South Russia steppes in IX-XI c. A.D. Among the basic problems is a more reliable historical substantiation of the criteria for attributing archeological finds to the class of pecheneg and oguz monuments and the research technique.
The natural anatomic integrity of the skeletons of the buried and the accompanying horses' skins was disturbed in many burial places as early as ancient times. All the cases of this kind are described in the article. However, it is only in a number of cases that these disturbances can be accounted for by graves robbery. The author argues that the main reason for the skeletons destruction lies in the rite of rendering the buried harmless which spread among the nomads. This rite could have emerged among the nomads of the North Pre-Caspian origin due to direct ethnic contacts of the oguz with the descendants of Saltovsky population.
D.V. Vasilyev, T.Yu.Grechkina, E.D.Zilivinskaya (Astrakhan, Moscow, Russia)
SAMOSDELKA SETTLEMENT: THE MONUMENT OF THE PRE-MONGOL PERIOD IN THE LOWER REACHES OF THE VOLGA
Samosdelka settlement situated in the Astrakhan province in the Volga estuary has been known as the Golden Horde memorial. It was only in the 1990s when the evidence referring to earlier periods was revealed. Recent studies (2000-2003) have permitted to discover the structures dating back to the XI-XIII c. Among them there are several one-room houses with the heating system in the form of kangs running inside benches and a dug-out with brick-lined walls. The major bulk of the finds is constituted by ceramic items, which can be divided into two big groups. They are Bulgaria-made pottery pieces and modelled earthenware items similar to those found in the Khazar ancient settlements situated along the Don where they are attributed to the nomadic component of the population. Besides, the earthenware of this type was found in the so-called "marsh" settlements discovered by S.P. Tolstov in the lower reaches of the Syr-Darya.
On the basis of the analysis of the finds discovered in Samosdelka settlement and in some other monuments it can be concluded that formation of the Volga estuary population within the pre-Mongol period was largely influenced by the Oguz component from the lower reaches of the Syr-Darya in the IX-X c. The identity of the town situated on the site of Samosdelka settlement in XI-XIII c. with the town of Saxin, the centre of the province of the same name populated by the Oguz and the Bulgar, can be assumed.
E.Ye.Kravchenko (Donetsk, Ukraine)
A NOBLE WARRIOR'S INTERMENT OF XIII C. ON THE RIVER KALKA
The materials presented in the paper have enabled us to date the burial complex under investigation back to the period before the Mongolian invasion. It has been shown that researchers attribute the monuments of this type to the antiquities of the Black Klobuks (Black Hoods) (A.N.Kirpichnikov, 1966, 1971; S.A.Pletneva, 1973) which appears to be sufficiently grounded. Thus, out of seven portrait masks that have been known hitherto (Rotmistrovka, Kovali, Lipovets, Gorodische, Serensk, Kherson, Kalka) five samples were found on the territories of Rus. Three of those masks were found on the territories that had been traditionally inhabited by the Black Klobuks (Black Hoods), with two of them (Kovali and Lipovets) belonging to the grave objects complexes typical of the Black Klobuks. Although the interment on the river Kalka has been almost utterly ruined, it could be definitely attributed to the same group of monuments.
The time the complex is dated to, its location not far from the antiquities on the river Ross, and its specific features presented here have enabled us to link the interment with the tragic events of May 1223 on the Kalka. We assume that the Kalka battle took place not far from the burial complex. The following facts are consistent with the assumption: 1) there are several rivers named "Kalka" in the area; 2) the Ipatievsky chronicle of 1237 gives evidence that the Tatars fought with the Russians on the "Kalkokh" (ref.: , vol. II), 3) the unique character of the interment under investigation demonstrates that the deceased was obviously buried under extraordinary circumstances.
The data presented here give strong evidence in favour of the assumption that the place of the Kalka battle should be searched for somewhere in the area of the contemporary Volodarsky and Volnovakha districts of the Donetsk province, while the assumption that it could be found near the town of Mariupol or even on the territory of "Kamenny Mogily" reservation is in direct conflict with the evidence.
V.G.Kischenko (Donetsk, Ukraine)
THE ARROWS OF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL CULTURES OF EURASIA: RECONSTRUCTION
The main objective of the present work is to reconstruct the arrows of the nomads beginning from the time of their appearance in the late Neolithic age till the end of the Middle Ages. The present research has been undertaken exclusively on the basis of archaeological data. As far as we know, such comprehensive study has never been attempted before in the world archaeological practice.
The data accumulated through scrupulous studies have enabled us, on the one hand, to specify more strictly certain well-known types of arrows, and, on the other hand, to establish their look and design, the technology of their manufacturing, and their killing power.
Since any material thing is an integral part of culture, this reconstruction could contribute to a more general picture of not only military but also many other aspects of life of traditional societies.
The investigation has shown that neither a design nor the colouring of the ancient arrows reveal any signs of manufacturer.s improvisation. Every element of the arrow (its parameters (the length and diameter), the sort of wood, types of arrowheads and whistles (svistunki), the elements of a fastening system, the form and colouring of the shaft and feathering, the form of the lug and other details follow the prototype pattern.
Although in different epochs the arrows of the steppe cultures had numerous specific features, there were also some common characteristics. The most important of them were the usage of definite sorts of wood, and general parameters of the shaft and the lug. Moreover, observations have enabled us to establish some evolution sequences. These are, for instance, the typology of arrowhead, it being developed in search of the optimum form and materials to reduce air resistance, the improvement of the fastening system, etc. As for the arrow colouring and decoration, they pose a special problem for attributing the specific colouring and decorative features to a particular culture, ethnos, tribe or family.
V.N.Shalobudov, P.P.Lesnichiy (Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine)
EXPERIENCE OF RECONSTRUCTION OF LATE NOMADS' CARTS (ON THE MATERIAL OF POLOVETS BURIALS IN THE DNEPER REGION)
The article deals with the problem of studying wheel transport of the medieval nomads of Europe. In particular light two-wheel carts of bullock-cart type from the Polovets burial places of Ukraine are regarded. Having studied well preserved cart parts from the XII-XIVth century burial places near Bolshemikailovka and Chapayevka villages of Dnepropetrovsk province, the authors proposed their reconstruction. First of all, great attention was paid to high degree of precision and neatness of treatment achieved by the Polovets skilled workers. Various engineer solutions of the running gear of carts despite the uniformity of the removable bodies used separately as latticed coffins are of great interest. The earlier cart dated by the XIIth century according to the burial stock had the wheels fastened to the intricate immovable axle and fixed with the additional inserts. The cart of the XIVth century was simpler and easier to exploit, it had a freely rotating axle which could be easily changed when it was broken.
Two-wheel carts regarded in the article had no metal parts and they were mass produced directly at the stands. They essentially increased the mobility of the Polovets hordes while the nomads changed their stands and strengthened the fighting efficiency of the military detachments allowing to carry weapon and ration stock.
Yu.Ya.Rassamakin (Kiev, Ukraine)
A NOBLE NOMAD'S INTERMENT ON THE RIVER MOLOCHNAYA: EXPERIENCE OF RECONSTRUCTION OF A SET OF OBJECTS
The article deals with one of the most impressive and untouched monuments of the early period of the Golden Horde in Eastern Europe. A set of objects found in the interment contains a great number of rare and socially non-trivial goods. A kaftan (a long tunic with a waist-girdle) made of smooth crimson silk, a copper cauldron, and a straightened grivna are of particular interest.
The interment has a unique stock of well-preserved wooden articles. They are: kitchen utensils (a bowl, a plate and a dipper), armament pieces (a quiver and a bow), cart details (wheels and frame parts), a saddle, a point of indefinite purpose and a log coffin.
Despite of some deterioration most of the goods preserved their form, construction details and proportions, which permitted their rather precise reconstruction. Some of those reconstructions attempts have no analogues available in special literature.
The funeral rite peculiarities and the objects typology enabled us to date the monument back to the period of the late XIIth - early XIVth cc.
As for the stock composition, it is quite specific and mainly consists of household goods, weapons being represented only by the things traditional and compulsory for a nomad: a bow, a quiver and a sabre. It gives the evidence that the deceased belonged to the tribal nobility, although being a warrior was not the main, or at least the only, status for him.
M.V.Gorelik (Moscow, Russia)
HELMETS AND FALCHIONS: TWO ASPECTS OF MUTUAL INFLUENCE OF THE MONGOLIAN AND EUROPEAN ART OF WAR
In the first part of the paper a group of helmets found in Central Europe on the territories extending from Prussia to Bulgaria is described. Our investigation has shown that all the pieces were manufactured in the Empire of Chinghiside, mainly in Ulus Dzhuchi (the Golden Horde), and were brought to Europe during the nomads' raids in the second half of the XIIIth c., on the one hand, and due to Ulus Dzhuchi power expansion in the southeastern areas of Central Europe, on the other. The situation in Hungarian kingdom was quite different: the Polovets-Kumans, who had settled there, preferred helmets of their traditional design that had been made in their former motherland. We would like to emphasise the existence of war-trade interrelations with Prussia and the neighbouring regions of Poland and Lithuania. In this region under the influence of Mongolian and Russian raids in the second half of the XIIIth c. and close contacts of Alexander Nevsky who adhered to the Mongololian style with the Prussian nobility and also for some other reasons, a specific set of armour (helmets and coats of mail) had formed.
In the second part of the paper we have analysed a unique find in the burial of the Golden Horde period near Kairka village in the area of Sivash, which seems to be very important for armour studies, namely: the "falchion" with a sabre-type hilt. The oriental style of the falchion with a sabre-type hilt in the burial of the Golden Horde of the XIVth c. gives strong evidence in favour of the interaction of the Mongols with the armourers of Western Europe. The shape of the falchion hilt from Kairka is of special importance, as it proves to be a prototype of the basic trend in cold steel hilt design in the Near East countries in the XVth-XVIth cc.
Ye.I.Narozhny (Armavir, Russia)
ON POLOVETS STATUES AND SANCTUARIES OF XIII-XIV CC.: THE NORTH CAUCASUS AND DON AREAS
Having the information from the digs of the Polovets sanctuaries in the North Caucasus and Don areas, it can be stated that certain statues were purposefully buried (hidden) into the pits prepared in the earth beforehand. Others were thrown down and put horizontally, with their heads to the east or with some deviation to the west. In the latter case parallels with the Polovets burial rituals can be traced. Thus, hiding the statues by the Polovets who thought them to be the symbol of the ancestors is regarded as a conscious process. The reasons for that are partially explained by the Arabian author of XIV c Al-Omari who spoke about the process of assimilation of the Polovets and Mongols in XIV c. It was the time of active islamisation in the Golden Horde which influenced the Polovets making them gradually reject their pagan cults in the new conditions. That caused the necessity of ritual burials of their not long ago admired statues.
Along with the attempts to determine the time of breaking the tradition of building sanctuaries and placing statues in them by the Polovets, some artifacts pictured on the statues are being considered in the article. Their numerous analogues from nomadic burial rites of XIII-XIV cc make it possible to believe that, after including the Polovets in the system of the Golden Horde, this tradition had existed up to XIV c.
A.I.Yudin, A.V.Balanovsky (Saratov, Russia)
ON ETHNIC AND CULTURAL ATTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENTS SITUATED IN THE FOREST-STEPPE AREAS OF THE VOLGA RIGHT BANK
The artifacts of the Russian origin in the settlements of the Golden Horde were found frequently, though they were not numerous. In recent years archaeological sites with medieval Russian materials have been found in the forest-steppe zone of the Lower Volga basin. They are settlements and ground sepulchres located on the Volga right bank (i.e. Alekseyevka site, Martyshkino, Kondakovo 1 and 2, Volsk) and in the forest-steppe of the Volga and Don interfluve (Kalmantay, Lysyje Gory, Peschanka).
The hillfort of Alekseyevka and a ground burial site in the city of Saratov have been investigated best of all. The medieval settlement on the Alekseyevka site was founded by the Russian people who had been moved to that place by the Tatar-Mongols from the captured Russian principalities in the later part of the XIIIth c. The evidence that the settlement had existed as far back as in XIVth c. has been provided by a number of finds. Russian ceramics makes up to 87% of all the finds in the occupation layer, while the samples of the Golden Horde ceramics are scarce. Semi dugout dwellings with pise ovens have been found. The burials of the ground cemetery were performed according to the Christian rites.
Other little settlements have also preserved the basic features of ethnic culture that can be easily traced archaeologically in the types of dwelling places, ceramics and funeral rites. The settlements containing Russian materials have no evidence of the occupation layers previous to the Mongols' arrival. They appeared on the Volga right bank as a result of the Golden Horde formation in the mid-XIIIth c.
The archaeological materials obtained permit to determine the social status of the Russian population. It can be assumed that it involved not only slaves and semi-dependent craftsmen, i.e. the two social categories known from literature. Most probably, the population of rural settlements was in a certain status of feudal dependence, yet retaining their traditional mode of living and culture for a long time due to their compact settling in foreign surroundings.
As for the territories between the Volga and the Don, the Russian population might have colonized them before the Mongolian invasion, or they could have gradually moved to the border area between Rus and the Golden Horde, settling in the woodlands, just as it had happened westwards, in the forest-steppe area of the Khoper basin.
E.D.Zilivinskaya, S.N.Alexeichuk (Moscow, Russia)
COUNTRY ESTATE BUILDING AT XVTH DIG OUT OF SELITRENNOYE ANCIENT SETTLEMENT
The investigations devoted to the excavations of the Golden Horde towns repeatedly pointed out the country-estate manner of their housing system. The country estates of the feudal nobility and prosperous townsmen occupied considerable area. They comprised the building for the owner, the living quarters for the servants and the household buildings. A country estate of this type was excavated by the Volga area expedition headed by G.A. Fyodorov-Davydov at Selitrennoye settlement (Saray) in 1987-1989. A square in its crosssection building (20.0 m x 19.5 m) with the walls made of large pieces of burnt brick was partitioned by meridional walls into three series of compartments. The central series consisted of a wind porch and a big central hall. The western and the eastern series contained three living chambers each connected with the hall. During the existence of the building the living chambers were often reconstructed. In the towns situated on the Volga there are several country-estate buildings of a similar design which permits to consider them as a certain type of structures. Their distinctive feature is the main central hall, which is a compositional centre of the building serving as a space for ceremonial occasions. The origins of this layout can be traced to the country-estate buildings of Khoresm; however, the design of the chambers and their purpose in the Golden Horde were original.
E.Ye.Kravchenko (Donetsk, Ukraine)
THE MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENT COMPLEX IN LYAPINSKAYA BALKA IN THE NORTH-EAST OF THE AZOV SEA AREA
In 1992 the expedition of Donetsk Museum of Regional Studies carried out excavations of a settlement in Lyapinskaya balka in the eastern suburb of the town of Mariupol (Donetsk province). Alongside with the materials of the Bronze Age found on the site, medieval layers dating back to VIIIth - Xth cc. and late XIVth c. have been excavated.
We have cleared out a foundation pit of a semi-dug construction that belongs to the archaeological complexes of the VIIIth-Xth cc. The finds were scarce and compacted on the cape grounds, giving evidence that in the Khazarian time the settlement was just a small (may be seasonal) camp of nomads. Bone remnants of cut horse carcasses belonging to that time were found beyond the settlement borders, and might have been the cult complexes.
The settlement of the Golden Horde period occupied the whole cape grounds.The materials found there were mainly ceramics. Onland construction of the XIVth c. (light huts and yurta-like constructions) were not preserved after the territory of the site had been subject to terracing. A fragment of a cast-iron cauldron found in that layer allows us to date the ettlement back to late XIVth c.
A ground cemetery located near the site (see the paper by A.V. Yevglevsky and V.K. Kulbaka in this book) gives evidence that the settlement in Lyapinskaya balka was founded by the nomads who had just passed to a settled life. The suggestion is backed by the fact that no objects connected with land cultivation have been found on the site, while a great number of animal bones is present in the occupation layer.
The second part XIVth c. is known to be characterized by intestine wars in the Golden Horde, and such settlements might have appeared in the north-east steppes of the Azov sea area due to the population migration from the regions ravaged by war to a relatively more peaceful lands.
A.V.Yevglevsky, V.K.Kulbaka (Donetsk, Mariupol, Ukraine)
GROUND BURIAL LYAPINSKAYA BALKA OF THE GOLDEN HORDE PERIOD (NORTH-EARSTEN AZOV TERRITORIES)
The article is devoted to an extraordinary ground burial of the middle XIVc. comprising 38 interments. The monument was excavated at the outskirts of the town of Mariupol in the estuary of the river Kalmius flowing into the Azov Sea.
Generally, the funeral ritual of the burial ground can be divided into two groups. The first group icludes the dead oriented towards the sunrise, predominantly (19 out of 21) to the north-east. All of them are supplied with some appliances. The dead had been buried by the pagan ritual, though in an obviously simplified, unified form, i.e. without any wooden frames serving as coffins, horses, lining, steps and other features of the ritual characteristic of the earlier period. The second group of the dead is oriented towards to the western section of the sky (14 complexes) with obvious predominance of strictly western orientation. Most interments in this group have no accompanying appliances, others have very few items. Apparently, in this group the features characteristic of the muslim funeral ritual prevail over the pagan ritual features.
The appliances found in the burial confirm the idea of syncretism of the Golden Horde culture whose constitutive autonomous part was its nomadic/seminomadic "version".
This monument displays a unique combination of most tendencies realized within the period of the highest peak of the Golden Horde, i.e. reflection of the process of the nomadic tribes' settlement, property inequality, peaceful coexistence of heathenism and Islam within the same group of people, as well as far-reaching commercial links and some others.
Ye.S.Otin (Donetsk, Ukraine)
PROBLEMS OF HISTORICAL ONOMASTICS OF THE NORTHERN AZOV AREAS
Part 1. Kayala
The critical analysis of the existing etymologies of the hydronym Kayala in the text of "The Song of Igor's Campaign" which corresponds to the name Syuurliy in the chronicle about Prince Igor's campaign in 1185 is presented. An assumption about Kayala being a poetic equivalent for the real hydronym Syuurliy is being motivated. In the artistic language of "The Song:" the name Kayala is a generalized designation of any Polovets river as well as the Danube is often a symbol of a Slavonic river in the Slavonic folk poetry.
Part 2. The Form of Targolove in the Chronological Evidence about Igor's Battle with Polovtsy (1185) against the Background of the Early East-Slavonic and the Ancient Turkic Suffixless Topoethnonyms
The existing interpretation and variants of the translation of targolove into the modern language of the text of Ipatjev's annals in which the captivity of Seversky Prince Igor by the Polovtsy in 1185 has been mentioned (in the works by Tatitschev V.N., Berezin I., Kudryashov K.V., Zainchkovsky A., Pletnyova S.A., Franchuk V.Y.) have been examined. The analysis of the word-form targolove permitted a conclusion that this is the local metonymic topoethnonym devoid of the suffix arragement and formed as a result of the transference of the reconstructed name of the river (*Targol) on to the ethnic group which lived in the adjacent area. The inflection of the plural -ove performed the function of the ethnoformant.
Part 3. Kalka
The existing etymologies for the name of the river Kalka (N.Aristov, D.Evarnitskiy, M.Fasmer, O.Pritsak, I.Dobrodomov) on the banks of which the battle with Tatar-Mongols resulting into a defeat of the Russian armed force took place in 1223 are considered. The author shares M.Fasmer's point of view that the hydronym has a Slavonic root kal "dirt"; at the same time, the possibility of an earlier "Scythian" origin of this river name is not ruled out with the Indo European *kel-// *kal- "black" being "pseudo-translated" by the Slavs: Kala/Kalka - "black" (river)> Kala/Kalka -"dirty" (river).
Part 4. The Toponymic Aspect of a Certain eEvent in the Ancient Russian History
This article contains criticism of K.V.Kudryashov's hypothesis about the site of the battle of the Russians with the Tatar-Mongols on the river Kalka in 1223 considering the data of the historical toponymy. The improbability of the fact that it took place in the upper reaches of the Kalchik in the region of the settlement Kamennye Mogily is being demonstrated. The analysis of the geographical names has shown that the ancient Russian Hydronym Kalka (Kalka1) in terms of world-building is not identical to the modern name Kalka (Kalka2) in the hydronymy of the river Kalmius. This should be taken into consideration while determining "the stony place" where Mstislav's camp was located and the battle occurred.
A.M.Polivanov (Moscow, Russia)
"EASTERN" HYPOTHESIS OF THE SITE OF PRINCE IGOR'S BATTLE WITH THE POLOVTSY (THE RIVER ROSSOSH IN THE MIDDLE DON BASIN)
The origin of the "eastern" version of the site of Igor's battle with the Polovtsy is the text of the poem in which Prince Igor explains the purpose of the expedition undertaken by him and his companions-in-arms "to the end of the Polovets' field", i.e. to the mid flow of the Don. Igor obviously intended to defend "Severskiye" principalities from the nomads' raids.
On the basis of the fact that the rivers Don, Donets and Oskol have retained their names during 800 years a geographical map of that time has been made on which the site where Prince Igor's troops witnessed the sun eclipse on May 1, 1185 and where they met Vsevolod has been found using astronomical calculations. This conclusion has become a pivotal point with which other scholarly data are in good logical agreement. The most valuable data have been provided by thorough analysis of hydrological situation in the area at the time of the battle. According to the "Eastern" hypothesis, the battle took place in the area between the rivers Olkhovatka (Syuurliy), Rossosh (Kayala) and Black Kalitva (Salnitsa), which were full due to the second flood.
