Pages: 453-459

In 2018, at the townsite (late medieval posad or suburb) within the modern urban settlement of Berezovo, in the north of Western Siberia, at the low reaches of the Ob River (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Tyumen Oblast), eight horizons of dwelling and economic buildings of the 17th—18th century were excavated. At estate no. 8, in the fifth building horizon, remains of a dwelling log-house no. 20 and adjoining log household building no. 20A were uncovered. In the latter building, in a layer of rotten straw and manure, a rare archaeological object was found — a leather carabine holster (olstra) with embossed decoration. The estate was functioning in the second half of the 17th century.
The holster from Berezovo was the sevenths find of this kind of leather objects in the whole history of archaeological investigations in the Russian Federation. The holster is intended for carrying carabine on the shooter’s back or being suspended on the front pommel of the saddle. It was suspended with the help of belts run through holes in the holster, similarly to the finds from Moscow. To the Moscow find, the Berezovo find is close also in terms of its purpose — used for a carabine, as well as the decorative ornamentation with incised figures. This fact suggests that this object was manufactured by Moscow artisans.

Keywords: Western Siberia, Late Medieval Age, Berezov town, leather objects, carabine holster (olstra)

Information about author:

Alexandr Kurbatov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]