Pages: 347-360

Lead seals are the most common sphragistic finds throughout the territory of Old Rus’. Pitifully, the information possibilities of Old Russian seals have not been comprehensively studied. Although the sites themselves have been in view of historians for almost one and a half centuries, even the total number of finds ihad not been determined until now. This paper publishes 35 seals and 5 blanks for seals of the pre-Mongol period found during excavations of 2015 in the Kursk kremlin (detinets). In the course of examination of the finds it turned out possible to distinguish two sphragistic series unidentified before. Among the princely signs represented on the seals, at least three types unknown before have been found. It is evident, that even relatively small series of seals enable us to supplement essentially our knowledge about monuments of Old Russian sphragistics in general. Therefore, the scientific publication both of new finds of medieval seals and unpublished earlier seals kept in museum and private collections is a task of great importance.

Keywords: Old Rus, sphragistics, seals, systematization, princely signs

Information about authors:

Serge Beletsky (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]
Roman Veretyushkin (Kursk, Russian Federation). Kursk State University. Radishchev St., 33, Kursk, 305007, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Konstantin Gorlov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). 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]