Temple decorations of the ancient Slavs - chronology, typology, symbolism

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

There are many versions of the appearance of ancient female temporal adornments. According to one of them, the most ancient female head adornments were flowers. Wreaths were woven of them, woven into braids. After getting married, a Slavic woman tucked her hair under her headdress. As an imitation of flowers, jewelry worn around the ear appeared. Apparently, these jewelry had the ancient name "zeeryaz" (from the word ear), although it was best known for its cabinet name - "temporal rings".

According to their external and technological characteristics, the temporal rings are divided into groups: wire, bead, in which a subgroup of pseudobasis, scutellum, radial and lobe is distinguished.

Wire temple rings.

The size and shape of the wire rings serve as a sign for distinguishing the sections in them: ring-shaped, bracelet-shaped, medium-sized rings and curly ones. Among the first three departments, there is a division into types:.

The smallest of the wire rings were either sewn onto the headdress or woven into the hair. They were widespread in the X-XIII centuries. throughout the Slavic world and cannot serve as either an ethnic or a chronological sign. However, one and a half turn closed wire rings are characteristic of the southwestern group of Slavic tribes [8].

Buzhany (Volynians), Drevlyans, Polyana, Dregovichi.

They are characterized by wire ring-shaped temporal rings with a diameter of 1 to 4 cm. The most frequent are rings with unclosed and overlapping ends and, as a variety of the latter, one and a half turn rings. Much less often come across bent-end and S-end rings, as well as polychrome, single-beaded and three-beaded grained rings.

Northerners.

An ethnographic feature of the northerners is the wire figured spiral rings of the 11th-12th centuries (Fig. 4). Women wore them two or four on each side [8]. This type of rings originated from the spral temporal ornaments that were common on the left bank of the Dnieper in the 6th-7th centuries (Fig. 5).

The legacy of earlier cultures can be attributed to the false-grained cast temporal rings of the VIII-XIII centuries found on the monuments of the northerners (Fig. 6). They are late copies of expensive jewelry. Rings XI-XIII centuries are characterized by carelessness of manufacture [2].

Smolensk-Polotsk Krivichi.

The Smolensk-Polotsk Krivichi had bracelet-shaped wire temple rings. They were attached with leather straps to a headdress of the type of kichka made of birch bark or fabric, from two to six at each temple [8]. Basically, these were rings with two tied ends (XI - early XII centuries) and one knotted end (XII-XIII centuries) [2]. In the upper reaches of the Istra and Klyazma rivers, a significant percentage of the occurrence of S-terminal rings (X-XII centuries) was revealed, while in other regions they are rather rare (Fig. 7).

Pskov Krivichi.

In this territory, there are bracelet-shaped wire temple rings with overhanging ends, cruciform and curved. Sometimes bells with a cruciform slit (X-XI centuries) or trapezoidal (sometimes sub-triangular) pendants with a circular ornament were hung on chains on chains (Fig. 8).

For Slovenian Novgorod are characteristic. The earliest type is a ring 9-11 cm in diameter with clearly carved rhombic shields, inside which a cross in a rhombus was depicted in dotted lines. The end of the cross was decorated with three circles. Both ends of the ring were tied or one of them ended with a shield. This type is called the classic rhomboid shield [8]. It existed in the 11th - first half of the 12th centuries. For the end of the XI-XII centuries. a pattern of a cross in a rhombus and four circles on the field is characteristic. Over time, the shields become smoothed, and then oval. In the ornament, the cross is replaced by circles or bulges. The size of the rings is also reduced. Typical for the end of the XII-XIII centuries. are the socket-end rings, ornamented with bulges or a longitudinal edge [2]. The way of wearing these rings is similar to the wire bracelet rings.

In the XIII-XV centuries. among Novgorod Slovenes, earrings in the form of an inverted question mark are widespread [8, 9], (Fig. 9).

Analyzing the symbolism of these types of temporal rings B. A. Rybakov [7] writes: “The temporal rings of the Dregovichi, Krivichi and Slovens of Novgorod had a round ring-shaped form, which makes it possible to speak of solar symbolism. In Slovenians, a large wire ring was flattened in 3-4 places into rhombic shields, on which a cruciform figure or a square "ideogram of a cornfield" was engraved. In this case, the solar symbol - a circle - was combined with the symbol of earthly fertility. " Vyatichi and Radimichi.

The earliest ray rings (Fig. 10) belong to the Romny and Borshevsk cultures of the 8th-10th centuries. [eight]. Samples of the XI-XIII centuries. are distinguished by coarse dressing [2]. The existence of the oldest type of seven-bladed rings dates back to the 11th century (Fig. 11).

In his work T. V. Ravdina [4] notes that "the oldest seven-lobed temporal rings are located, with one exception, outside the range of the classic seven-lobed rings." The same work also says that “a gradual chronological and morphological transition from the oldest seven-bladed XI century. to the seven-bladed Moskvoretsky XII-XIII centuries. No". However, the findings of recent decades show that this is not entirely true. For example, several of the oldest seven-bladed rings were found in the Zvenigorod district of the Moscow region [10]. According to the reliable data available to me, fragments of this type of rings are often found along with fragments, as archaeologists call it, of the first type of a simple seven-bladed ring (Fig. 12), in a field near the former (almost completely destroyed by landslides into the river) Duna settlement (Tula region, Suvorovsky district).

According to archaeologists, this type existed at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, and therefore, despite the absence of a transitional form, it could be the next stage in the development of the seven-bladed ring [6]. This type is characterized by small size, teardrop-shaped, rounded blades and the absence of lateral rings. In the first half of the XII century. lateral rings appear on the rings, a shaded ornament extending over each lobe with sharp tips, an ax-shaped lobe (Fig. 13).

In the middle of the century, there were many transitional variants of seven-lobed rings. The late rings are characterized by the presence of all three features (Fig. 14).

The development of the seven-bladed ring in the second half of the XII-XIII centuries. goes along the path of increasing sizes, as well as complicating patterns and ornaments. There are several types of complex rings of the late XII - early XIII centuries, but all of them are quite rare. The number of blades can also be three or five, (Fig. 15), but their number does not affect either the typology or the chronology. '

It is impossible not to ignore one discrepancy noted by T. V. Ravdina [5]. The fact is that the area where the largest number of late seven-bladed rings was found, namely the Moscow region, was not Vyatics according to the chronicles. On the contrary, the chronicle Vyatka upper reaches of the Oka are characterized by a small number of finds of this type of rings. This raises a legitimate question: is it legitimate to consider the late seven-bladed rings as an attribute of the Vyatichi tribe?

It should be noted that the oldest type of seven-lobed rings is also often found on the land of the Radimichi and it is defined as the prototype of the seven-rayed rings (Fig. 16), XI-XII centuries. [4]. Noticing this fact, B. A. Rybakov [7] concludes that this “type, obviously, by the Volga-Don route into the land of the Vyatichi and Radimichi, was well received by the local population and existed, changing, until the 13th century, giving rise to the Radimichi seven-rayed temporal rings of the 10th-11th centuries … and the vyatichny seven-bladed XII century, who survived until the Tatar invasion. At the base of it is a ring, in the lower part of which several teeth protrude inward, and outward - longer triangular rays, often decorated with grains. The connection with the sun is felt even in their scientific name - "seven-rayed". For the first time, rings of this type that came to the Eastern Slavs were not anyone's tribal sign, but over time they became entrenched in the Radimich-Vyatich lands and became in the X-XI centuries. such a sign of these tribes. They wore seven-rayed rings on a vertical ribbon sewn to the headdress. " Such sets of decorations are called ribbon [1].

Urban decorations.

Decorations also belong to the ribbon. The beads mounted on the ring were fixed from movements by winding with a thin wire. This winding also created the spacing between the rings.

Bead temporal rings have varieties [6]:.

Separately, the temporal rings with beads of complex shapes, decorated with filigree, should be distinguished (Fig. 24). This type, called Kievsky, was widespread in the XII-first half of the XIII century. in the principalities located on the territory of modern Ukraine.

In rural areas, except for the Suzdal opolye, bead rings are not common, but they were widespread among wealthy city dwellers. Ribbons with a set of three-bead rings were usually completed with a bunch of two or three similar rings or weighted with a beautiful pendant (Fig. 25).

From the first half of the XII century. such a pendant became [5] with a wide bow and a flattened upper beam (Fig. 26). In the second half of the century, instead of the upper ray, a lunar part with a narrow bow appears.

Over time, the size of the kolts decreases. Scanned-grained ray kolts were true masterpieces of ancient Russian jewelry art. The decoration of the highest nobility was made of gold and decorated with enamel designs on both sides (Fig. 27, 28).

There were similar kolts made of silver (Fig. 29). They were adorned with niello. Favorite motifs were images of mermaids (Sirins) on one side and turkey horns with stylized seeds on the other. Similar images can be found on other jewelry described in the article by Vasily Korshun " Old Russian pendants and amulets of the 11th - 13th centuries"According to BA Rybakov, such drawings were symbols of fertility [7]. Lunar kolts were usually worn on a chain attached to the headdress in the temple area.

In the second half of the XII century. hollow enamel lunar kolts made of copper began to appear. They were decorated with gilding and enamel designs. The plots of the drawings were similar to those on their "noble" counterparts. Copper kolts, of course, were much cheaper than precious metal kolts, and became more widespread (Fig. 30-32).

Kolts made of tin-lead alloys cast in rigid imitation casting molds were even cheaper (Fig. 33, 34), which existed until the XIV century. [nine]. Thus, the era of temporal decorations of pre-Mongol Russia ended with single, late, cheap overflows, reminiscent of drops of tears over the lost ancient jewelry art. The Mongol-Tatar invasion dealt an irreparable blow to both the prevailing techniques and traditions. It took more than one decade to recover from it.

LITERATURE:1. Zhilina N. V. "Russian jewelry piece", Rodina No. 11-12, M., 2001. 2. Levasheva V. P. "Temple rings, Essays on the history of the Russian village X-XIII centuries.", M., 1967.3. Nedoshivina N. G. “On the question of the genetic connection between the Radimich and Vyatichi temporal rings”, Proceedings of the State Historical Museum. V. 51. M. 1980. 4. Ravdina T. V. "The oldest seven-lobed temporal rings", 1975. SA No. 3.5. T. V. Ravdina "Seven-bladed temporal rings", Problems of Soviet archeology. 1978, M. 6. Ravdina T. V. "Typology and chronology of lobed temporal rings", Slavs and Rus, M., 1968. 7. Rybakov BA. "Paganism of Ancient Rus", M., 1988.8. V. V. Sedov "Eastern Slavs in the VI-XIII centuries", Archeology of the USSR, M., 1982.9. Sedova M. V."Jewelry of Ancient Novgorod (X-XV centuries)", M., 1981.10. Stanyukovich A. K. et al., Works of the Zvenigorod Expedition, JSC 1999, M., 2001.11. “Jewelry from precious metals, alloys, glass, Ancient Russia. Life and culture ", Archeology of the USSR, M., 1997.12. V. E. Korshun “Dear old fellow. Finding the Lost”, M., 2008.