Pages: 305-323 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp234305324 

In the burial ground near the village of Luchistoe, in vaults 104 and 268, two unique children’s burials of the turn of the 6th—7th century were revealed, in which a complete set of metal accessories of clothing and jewelry characteristic of the costume of adult women of the Crimean Goths was recorded. The article describes the inventory of burials, discusses the features of the use of individual parts of the costume and jewelry. According to the state of things fixed in situ on the bones, a children’s suit with a large buckle is reconstructed. Placing things of adults in children’s burials is most likely connected with the peculiarities of the funeral rite. In vault 104, a prematurely deceased teenage girl of 9—12 years old, who had reached the marriageable age, was buried in a ceremonial female “wedding” costume. In vault 268, a set of women’s accessories was placed in the burial of a two-year-old child, probably a girl, as a gift from her mother, as a symbolic offering to a child whose premature death did not allow her to use «women’s gifts» during her lifetime.

Keywords: Byzantium, the South-Western Crimea, Crimean Goths, children’s costume, brooches, buckles

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
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-1362-757X