Pages: 151-166

For the last fifteen years, the number of Byzantine coins, found in Bryansk oblast, has grown from one to several tens. To introduce in scientific discussion, analyzing authenticity of each, is one of the goals of this article. The second goal is to reconstruct the historical situation, which caused a certain circulation of the Byzantine coins at the end of the ninth — the beginning of the eleventh centuries, basing on different types of archaeological artifacts in ethno-potestary micro-regions. The mass import of the Byzantine coins correlates with different stages of incorporation of the Bryansk Desna region into the Old Russian state. More than seventy coins are concentrated in the northmost micro-region of “Russian land” — the Starodub micro-region, and also in the neighbouring parts of the Severyans’ and the Radimichs’ lands. “The Great Poliudie route” (tax collection route) ended here, and the wealth started to be distributed among the elites of different levels. The coins of different types and worth mark the residences of these elites, and were found mainly in forts, pogosts, large princely (?) villages with fortified manors. Not so much served they for exchange and amass of wealth (it was too little) as they were a status indicator of different types of elite’s members, such as tribute collectors, governors, local aristocrats, and the representatives of the central administration. In such a way, the golden coins are concentrated only around Starodub.

Keywords: Desna Region, “Russian Land”, 10th century, Severyans, Radimichs, route of tax collection, Byzantine coins, sign of status, stratification, pre-state

Information about authors:

Evgenii Shinakov (Bryansk, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Bryansk State University. Bezhitskaya St., 14, Bryansk, 241012, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Vasiliy Zaytsev (Moscow, Russian Federation). State Historical Museum. Red Square, 1, Moscow, 109012, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Vladislav Piskunov (Bryansk, Russian Federation).
E-mail: [email protected]