Old Russian pendants and amulets of the 11th - 13th centuries

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Another confirmation that the amulets were worn in bundles was a find made in the area of the city of Torzhok, Tver region (Table, No. 1). On a bronze wire were suspended two animal fangs and two bronze amulets: a zoomorphic creature (lynx?), Whose body was decorated with a circular ornament, and a spoon. With a certain degree of certainty, it can be argued that this set of amulets belonged to the hunter, since three of them symbolized protection from the "fierce beast", and the spoon personified satiety, success in the hunt.

The complex can be dated fairly accurately to the second half of the 11th - first half of the 12th century. Bronze fangs, the so-called "jaws of a predator" (No. 2), also served as protection from the fierce beast. They were found near the former settlement of Duna near the town of Chekalin, Tula region. The time of existence of such a talisman is 10-12 centuries.

The amulet, meaning the sun, purity and hygiene - a copper comb, decorated with two horse heads looking in different directions, was found on the banks of the Desna River, 25 km north of the city of Novgorod-Seversky (No. 3). The place where the second comb, made of bronze, was found has not been established (no. 4). They are characteristic of the 11th - first half of the 12th century.

The preservation and inviolability of household property is the task of the key amulets of the 11-12th centuries. (No. 5, 6). The sacred meaning of the spoon (No. 7) has already been mentioned. All these items were found in the Suvorov district of the Tula region.

One of the most common amulets of the 11-12 centuries. was such a universal tool as an ax. On the one hand, the ax was Perun's weapon, and the circular ornament decorating the amulets confirms their belonging to the heavenly thunderer. On the other hand, the ax was an integral part of the marching weaponry. Here, again, one can trace the role of Perun as the patron saint of warriors. The ax is also directly related to the slash farming that was prevalent at that time and, therefore, with agricultural magic. Hatchets reproduced the shape of real axes. Such amulets were found in the Velizhsky district of the Smolensk region (No. 8), in Western Ukraine (No. 9, 10) and in the Bryansk region (No. 11).

Cast pendants are widespread, representing two circles with equal-pointed cross under them. Their variety is very great. A pendant with the same obverse and reverse sides was found in the Kovrovsky district of the Vladimir region (No. 12), with spiral circles and a smooth reverse side - in the Yaroslavl region (No. 13), with circles in the form of curls and a smooth reverse side - in the Ryazan region (No. 15). The pendant, made of twisted silver wire (No. 16), found in the Kursk region, shows the influence of the northerners. If we consider the semantics of such attachments from the standpoint of academician B. A. Rybakov, in them you can see the earth (cross) between two positions of the sun - in the east and in the west (circles). In this series, a pendant stands out sharply, in which pagan elements are replaced by Christian ones (No. 14). On the obverse, inside the cross and in the circle, there is an in-depth image equilateral cross, the upper end of which ends with two volute curls. On the reverse side, inside the cross and in the circle, there are in-depth images of equal-pointed crosses with expanding blades. Place of find - Ryazan region.

The two most significant historical finds are trapezoidal pendants of the 10th – 11th centuries.with signs of Rurikovich, found near Smolensk (No. 17) and Minsk (No. 18), are not inferior to their museum "brothers" (No. 19). Later stylizations of Rurik symbols are seen in two identical coin-like pendants found in the Bryansk region (No. 20, 21).

Turning to the subject of Rurik, one cannot fail to note the influence that the Scandinavians had during that period on Russia … This is evidenced, in particular, by a number of attachments from the Domongola collection. The most striking is a coin-shaped silver pendant with gilding found in the Chernihiv region (No. 22). The pendant field is filled with four false-grained volute-like curls, the edge - three false-grained circles. In the center and in a circle there are five hemispheres. The composition is complemented by a human face. Unfortunately, the top mount was lost in antiquity, and a later self-made eyelet greatly spoiled the impression of the composition. A similar pendant can be dated back to the 10th – 11th centuries. There are a few more coin-like attachments presumably of Scandinavian originfound near Vladimir (no. 23), Kiev (no. 24) and Rzhev (no. 25).

It is curious that the composition of volute curls was widely popular in the Slavic environment of the 11th - mid-12th century. Pendants with a pattern of eight volutes in the outer circle and three volutes in the inner circle were found in the Novgorod (no. 26), Bryansk (no. 27) and Kiev (no. 28) regions. Moreover, if the first two are made of copper alloys, then the latter is cast from silver and a composition of dots is placed under its head. A similar pendant made of a tin-lead alloy was found in Gochevo, Kursk region (No. 31). A coin-shaped pendant with a pattern of large false grain along the perimeter and a "Perunova" rosette in the center (No. 29) dates back to the same period.

Quite interesting is a coin-shaped pendant made of copper alloy (No. 30) with the image of a sprouted grain in the center, a five-petal flower and five pollinated pistils (according to BA Rybakov). Despite the absence of direct analogies, it can be dated to the second half of the 12th - first half of the 13th century.

A special type of attachment includes Old Russian lunar … The earliest is a wide-horned lunar made of a copper alloy found in Ukraine, which existed from the end of the 10th to the first half of the 12th century. (No. 32). A wide-horned lunar with a depression in the shape of a month (No. 33), but made of a billon, was found in the Boryspil district of the Kiev region. A variety of broad-horned lunars are decorated at the ends and in the middle with three convex dots (No. 34). They became widespread in the 10-11th centuries.

To another type Old Russian lunnits - narrow-necked or steep-horned - the find from Ryazan belongs. The lunar, cast from tin bronze, is decorated with a three-part geometric pattern in the center and two raised points on the blades (No. 35). It dates back to the 12-13th centuries. The copper lunar from the Boryspil district of the Kiev region belongs to the same period. Its field is decorated with two triangles along the edges and three circular elements in the center (No. 36). Judging by the works of B. A. Rybakov, the decor of these lunars is of an agrarian character.

Separately, there is an unparalleled bronze carved three-horned lunar from the Rostov region, ornamented with false graining (No. 37). Its estimated date is 12-13 centuries. A find near Moscow - a closed lunar cast from tin bronze with an ornament in the form of rounded indentations (seven in the upper part and one in the lower) - dates back to the 13th century. (No. 38). Perhaps the ornament symbolizes seven positions of the luminary during the day (according to the number of days of the week) and one at night. But the real masterpiece is its silver and gilded peer from Ukraine! Its lower branches are decorated with the image of Turkish horns, and the center is filled with floral ornaments, which does not give rise to doubts about the agrarian semantics of the monument (No. 39).

Lunars with a four-part composition, which were widespread in the 12-13th centuries, are of undoubted interest. One of their varieties is the Bryansk find. Circle-shaped bronze moon decorated with a three-part ornament, a rim of false grain and an equilateral cross with a rhomboid middle cross and ends in the form of a four-part composition of false grain (No. 40).

Of particular note is the round slotted pendant of the 12th – 13th centuries. from a copper alloy, found in the Serpukhov district of the Moscow region. In the center there is an image of a lunar and a four-part composition of five rhombuses (No. 41). Probably, such pendants personify a complex solar-lunar effect on the Earth. The same semantic load, but in a more simplified compositional version, is carried by a copper pendant from Ukraine (No. 42).

Speaking about the beliefs of the Slavs of the 11-13th centuries, one cannot ignore the pendants with the image of birds, animals, zoomorphic creatures. In many of them, there is a connection with related cultures.

A coin-shaped pendant made of copper alloy with the image of a zoomorphic creature, which has no direct analogies, was found in Ukraine (No. 43). The plot of another pendant (two birds) has analogies only on kolts (No. 44). Roughly they can be dated to the 12-13th centuries.

But the plot of the bronze pendant found near Bryansk is well known. B. A. Rybakov believes that it depicts the ritual "turits". The center of the pendant is occupied by a relief image of a bull's head with clearly profiled horns, ears and large round eyes. On the forehead there is a triangular sign sloping downward at an angle. The bull's head is placed in a false grain rim (no. 45). Seven female figures are schematically depicted around the head. This pendant, apparently, is associated with the sacrifice of the bull to Perun and is characteristic of the lands of the Radimichi in the 11-13th centuries. However, the settlement of the northern Radimichi at the end of the 11th century. their amulets were carried to the east up to the Nerl, therefore, it would be more logical to attribute a similar find from the Ivanovo region (No. 46) to the 12th century.

Probably, the cult of the snake, borrowed from the Balts, was introduced by the Radimichs. Since ancient times, her image has been given a magical meaning. Two bronze pendants found in the Vladimir region probably depict snakes (no. 47, 48). A unique composition is a composition of two snakes found in the Yaroslavl region (No. 49).

It is impossible not to remember once again about the pendant, which received the name "lynx" among the search engines, although archaeologists call it "a ridge". Such a bronze animal found in the Middle Poochye is obviously relatively late and can be dated to the 12th – 13th centuries, since it lacks circular ornament and poor quality casting (no. 50). It is more difficult to date a flat cut-out pendant found in the same region depicting an obscure creature, possibly a bird (no. 51). By the time of existence of such products, it can be dated to the second half of the 10th - the beginning of the 12th century.

Special attention should be paid to the large role of the chicken or rooster in the magic rites of the Slavs, which is associated with a large number of appendages of the 12th - first half of the 13th century. in the form of these birds. A pair of these birds found nearby is touching: a flat one-headed slotted copper cock (No. 52) with a false filigree pattern, a loop on the back and four loops for appendages, and the same, only without a comb, a chicken (No. 53). It is interesting that duck legs were often hung from the bottom to the hens and cockerels on links, which clearly shows the influence of the Finno-Ugric tradition. The flat two-headed slotted cockerel outlined with false filigree made of tin bronze with a plant pattern on the body and five loops for appendages has losses - the second head and loop on the back have not been preserved (no. 54). Despite the lack of analogies in print publications, similar pendants can be found on the Internet. Place of find - Klinsky district, Moscow region. There are almost no published analogies for two realistic bronze flat-relief cockerels with an eye for hanging. One of them was found in the Ivanovo region (No. 55), the other - in the northwestern regions of Russia (No. 56).

Along with flat ones, there are also hollow pendants of the “chicken family”. All of them were made in the 11th-12th centuries, but, despite the general similarity, almost every copy is individual. Of interest is a bronze hollow cockerel with a body ornamented with rounded dents and a ridge along the lower edge, a head decorated with a comb and two loops along the body (No. 57). Hollow cockerels with a smooth body, a head with a crest and two loops along the body, found in the Ryazan (No. 58) and Vologda (No. 59) regions, look much simpler.

From the 12th to the end of the 14th century. there are hollow zoomorphic pendants, in the form of which the features of a horse are visible, whose cult was widespread among the Slavs. Very nice are two (one from the Yaroslavl (No. 60), the other from the Vladimir (No. 61) regions) hollow ridge, single-headed, with a vertically flattened beak-like muzzle and ears in the form of two rings located along the axis of the body. The lower part of the body is ornamented with a zigzag line enclosed between two rims. The tail is in the form of two rings. On both sides of the body there are a pair of rings for attaching the appendages.

The two finds from the Novgorod region differ from each other. The first, a hollow two-headed ridge, has a wide cylindrical muzzle (No. 62). The mane is conveyed by a flat stripe. The lower part of the body is ornamented with a zigzag line between two rims, at the bottom there are rings (three on both sides of the body) for attaching the appendages. The second is a two-headed horse (No. 63) with a vertically flattened muzzle and ears in the form of two rings across the body axis. The lower part of the body is ornamented with a zigzag line. On both sides of the body there are three rings, and one more under the tail for attaching appendages.

Thus, in a relatively short period of time, it was possible to collect and describe many monuments of cosmogonic and magical ideas of the ancient Slavs, some of which are unique. I hope that acquaintance with the materials of the site will arouse interest not only among search engines, archaeologists, local historians and historians, but also among everyone who is interested in the way of life, culture and beliefs of our ancestors.

Literature.1. Golubeva L. A. Amulets. - Ancient Russia. Life and culture. / Archeology of the USSR. M., 1997 2. L. A. Golubeva Zoomorphic ornaments of the Finno-Ugric peoples. SAI. Issue E1-59. M., 1979 3. Golubeva L. A. Finno-Ugric and Balts in the Middle Ages - Archeology of the USSR. M., 1987.4. V. E. Korshun Dear old fellow. Finding what was lost. M., 2008.5. Rybakov B. A. Paganism of ancient Russia. M., 1988 6. Ryabinin E. A. Zoomorphic jewelry of ancient Russia X-XIV centuries. SAI. Issue E1-60. M., 1981. 7. V. V. Sedov Eastern Slavs in the VI-XIII centuries. - Archeology of the USSR. M., 1982.8. Sedova M. V. Jewelry of Ancient Novgorod (X-XV centuries). M. 1981.9. Jewelry made of precious metals, alloys, glass. - Ancient Russia. Life and culture. / Archeology of the USSR. M., 1997 10. A. V. Uspenskaya Chest and belt pendants. - Essays on the history of the Russian village X-XIII centuries. Tr. State Historical Museum. Issue 43. M., 1967.