Pages: 221-240 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp255221240
The article presents and analyzes the results of X-ray fluorescence studies of metal jewelry, Christian symbols, and costume details found during excavations of medieval burials near the village of Zolotoe and at the BabchikVostochny burial ground in the Crimean Azov region. These findings are stored in the East Crimean Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve. Essential data on the alloys used and methods of manufacturing objects in the 13th—14th centuries in the Bosporus were obtained. An attempt was also made to trace the transfer of metallurgical and metalworking technologies dating back to the ancient era. For the first time, information was revealed characterizing the beliefs of the medieval population of the eastern part of the Crimean peninsula. It clearly expresses the predominance of Christian attributes over the practically unnoticeable influence of Islam in objects of cult significance. This observation is consistent with the written accounts, including the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta’s account of Christians in the rural area of Kerch, which extended to as far as Kaffa, and the chronicle’s mentioning a smallpox epidemic that affected the Russian city of Korchev during the period of the “great turmoil” in the Golden Horde.
Keywords: non-ferrous metalworking, medieval jewelry, bell, pendant made from a Golden Horde coin, X-ray fluorescence analysis, alloy composition
Information about authors:
Aleksandr Maslennikov (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dm. Ulianova St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-8292-1572
Tatiana Smekalova (Simferopol, Crimea). Doctor of Historical Sciences. V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. Academician Vernadsky Ave., 4, Simferopol, 295007, Crimea; National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”. Academician Kurchatov Sq., 1, Moscow, 123098, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-5378-5372
Valerii Sidorenko (Simferopol, Crimea). Candidate of Historical Sciences. V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. Academician Vernadsky Ave., 4, Simferopol, 295007, Crimea
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-7437-2750