УДК 903.25

EDN KWDKRN

 

Rings and Bracelets of the Kushmansky Archaeological Complex: Classification, Chronology, Manufacturing Techniques

Russkikh E. L.

 

Abstraсt

Introduction. Kushmansky archaeological complex of the 9th — 13th centuries of the Chepetsk culture includes three settlements and one burial ground. This complex belongs to the archaeological sites located in the Northwestern regions of the Cheptsa river basin. Among the numerous finds obtained as a result of excavations in 2011 — 2017, hand jewelry attract attention. Despite the insignificant number of finds in the total mass, these items are significant as a source for the study of a number of aspects of the material culture of the Chepetsk medieval population.

Materials and methods. The material of the study was bracelets and rings found as a result of excavations in 2011 — 2017 at the Kushmansky archaeological complex. The involvement of a combination of traditional archaeological and natural scientific methods in the study of rings and bracelets as one of the categories of metal jewelry contributed to their comprehensive study.

Results and discussion. As a result of the study, the data on the general technological methods for manufacturing products (casting, forging, soldering, graining, filigree) and a set of metal alloys (brass, bronze, multicomponent alloy, copper-silver alloy) used by jewelers was obtained. The pieces of the hand jewelry are systematized in accordance with morphological features and manufacturing techniques (bracelets — darts and lamellar, rings — shield and shieldless). By comparing the finds with analogues in the materials of synchronous archaeological sites, the chronological period of the existence of hand jewelry, corresponding to the end of the 9th — 12th centuries, on the Kushman sites was established.

Conclusion. The data obtained made it possible to distinguish between local and imported products, as well as to determine the skill level of local jewelers. Further studies of certain categories of metal products of the Kushmansky archaeological complex will contribute to the formation of a more holistic view of the production traditions of the Chepetsk medieval population. 

Keywords: Middle Ages, Chepetsk culture, Kushmansky archaeological complex, bracelets, rings, analogies, chronology, metal composition

For citation: Russkikh EL. Rings and Bracelets of the Kushmansky Archaeological Complex: Classification, Chronology, Manufacturing Techniques. Bulletin of the Research Institute of the Humanities by the Government of the Republic of Mordovia. 2023;15(1):179—191. EDN KWDKRN

 

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Information about the author:

Elena L. Russkikh, junior Researcher of the Udmurt Institute of History, Language and Litera­ture Udmurt Federal Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (4 Lo­monosova Str., Izhevsk 426004, Russia), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5628-8176, Researcher-ID: AAM-8843-2021, Scopus ID: 57219128294, russkihel@udman.ru

 

Conflict of interests: the author declare no conflict of interests.

 

The author read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

 

The article was submitted 20.10.2022; approved after reviewing 21.12.2022; accepted for publication 28.12.2022.