Pages: 151-162

The article examines two categories of female ensemble from the hoard found at the Elshino hillfort. This hoard, like the small one from Kartavtsevo hillfort, is considered among the group of hoards of the late Moshchiny culture (7th cent.). The Elshino hoard is similar to the Dnieper hoards (1st group), however the first one has a plenty of specific adornments. Some of them can be clearly divided into two categories whose origin lies in antiquities of the 1st half of I mil. AD. They are plated temple rings and cylindrical pendants. Prototypes of temple rings were part of the ensemble used by the population on the Upper Oka in the 2nd cent. AD (the antiquities of Novo-Kleymenovo type). In the 3rd — the 1st half of the 4th cent., these adornments were included as components of the ensemble worn by the population of the Middle Oka and Suzdal Opolye. Prototypes of cylindrical pendants were widespread throughout the European Barbaricum. Later versions of such pendants appeared in the Upper Oka region in the Hunnic epoch. They are known from Velegozh hoard (Moshchiny culture). Single pendants were also found in the graves of the Ryazan Finn of the 2nd half 5th cent. These relict adornments developed in the context of the female ensemble of the late Moshchiny culture in the 3rd quar. of the I mil. AD. The ensemble was synthesizing elements of various origins.

Keywords: the forest zone of Eastern Europe, early medieval period, decoration of female costume, local elements, origin, chronology

Information about author:

Ilya Akhmedov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). State Hermitage Museum. Dvortsovaya Emb., 34, Saint Petersburg, 191181, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]