Pages: 93-112

The culture of everyday life and the items of military equipment of the “squadron” affiliation (druzhina) should be separated from the other two types of everyday culture of the society elite. On the other hand, not all items of military life are associated only with the military elite, which Russian druzhina belonged to. The article deals with four categories of artifacts: spurs, “status” plaques of military belts or horse harness, sharp-pointed weapons with a ring, children’s military toys. Vshchizh, which the article is devoted to is a kind of “preservative” of the ancient Russian culture including the culture of druzhina because of its destruction in 1238, as well as its location on the border of Chernihiv-Seversk and Smolensk lands, as well as in the South and North of Russia which affected the cross-cultural and military links.

Keywords: Chernihiv-Smolensk borderlands, Vshchizh, equipment of the military elite, “druzhina culture of everyday life”, spurs

Information about authors:

Evgenii Shinakov (Bryansk, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Bryansk State University named after Academician I. G. Petrovski. Bezhitskaya St., 14, Bryansk, 241036, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Vladimir Minenko (Moscow, Russian Federation). Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]