Pages: 207-218
The multi-ethnic population of the Toretskoe urban settlement of the 15th century on the southern borders of the Kazan Khanate is evidenced by the presence of the Russian and Finno-Ugric peoples’ cultural materials such as ceramics, items of personal piety, and traditional jewelry in the rich collection of the site.
The items analyzed in the article do not have any ethno-cultural affiliation, but rather reflect all-European medieval fashion and reveal the contacts of the Middle Volga in the Late Middle Ages. Details of the belt set from the Toretskoe urban settlement find a wide range of analogies among the sites of Southern and Central Europe. A brass bell and waist pads are characterized by close geography of the main analogies. Obviously, the Siberian finds of such bells require further comparative-and-typological analysis and interdisciplinary approach. A silver ring illustrates a narrower direction, that is relations with the Crimea, which — judging by other finds — were traditional for Toretskoe.
Thus, jewelry and costume details suggest the region’s involvement in the pan-European cultural and economic space, which is confirmed by the finds of Hanseatic trade seals.
Keywords: Middle Volga region, Kazan Khanate, Southern and Central Europe, 15th century, intercultural interaction, jewelry, Hanseatic seals
Information about author:
Svetlana Valiulina (Kazan, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University. Kremlyovskaya St., 18, Kazan, 420008, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]