Pages: 225-250 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp224225250

In the early Middle Ages, the Crimean Goths had jewelry that were endowed with apotropaic or healing properties: hollow jewelry — containers for amulets (cylindrical cases, bulla pendants, earrings with a polyhedron); bells, the ringing of which was believed to ward off evil spirits; composite “noisy” metal pendants with a core of wood, walnut or fruit stone; “brooch” necklaces with large beads and unusual pendants. The article characterizes these objects, identifies a group of analogies, and determines their purpose on the basis of written sources and ethnographic data. On the basis of the state of objects recorded in situ in the burials, a costume with apotropaic decorations is reconstructed.

Keywords: Byzantium, the South-Western Crimea, Crimean Goths, women costume, apotropaion, amulet

Information about author:

Elzara Khairedinova (Simferopol, Crimea). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Academician Vernadsky Ave., 2, Simferopol, 295007, Crimea; V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. Academician Vernadsky Ave., 4, Simferopol, 295007, Crimea
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-1362-757X