Pages: 395-408

The article presents a complex of “stone circles” of various shapes, discovered in 1987 in the northwest of the Kola Peninsula, as well as the results of a preliminary survey of a concentric “circle” (the outer diameter of the ring is about 6 m). The closest analogies to these constructions are found in the antiquities of the Przeworsk and Velbark cultures (Poland), mainland and island Estonia, as well as in polar Norway. The summary dating of these analogies is wide from the Early Roman Time to the Migration Period (1st—5th/6th centuries). An iron D-shaped buckle and a knife with straight back found in a “circle” near the abandoned village of Pervomaisky can also speak about the European origin of this complex. Such a distant influence of the Baltic tradition upon Lapland can logically be explained only by fur trade, which was controlled by the militarized barbarians of German-Baltic, and possibly Finnish origin. The authors analyze the synchronous context of the horizon of connections between things and traditions, including the territory of the Russian north-west. Based on the available data, the dating of the presented complex is determined within the periods C3/D1–E1, i. e. 350/375—525. A more detailed conclusion is possible only after a thorough study of this complex of “circles”.

Keywords: Kola Peninsula, “stone circles”, D-shaped iron buckle, knife with straight back, Late Roman time, Migrations period, fur trade

Information about authors:

Sergey Kargapoltsev (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. 2nd Krasnoarmeiskaya St., 4, Saint Petersburg, 190005, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Valerii Sedykh (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of History, Saint Petersburg State University. Mendeleevskaia Line, 5, Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]