Once Again about Women's Burials with Jewelry Tools from the Muroma Burial Grounds in the Lower Oka Region

Burials of women with casting tools are a striking feature of the Finno-Ugric antiquities of the early Middle Ages. They are known in the burial grounds of the Muromians, Mordvins, Mari people in the V–IX centuries AD. These findings allowed the researchers to conclude that the women of these tribes...

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Main Author: Olga V. Zelentsova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: State institution «Tatarstan Аcademy of Sciences» 2024-08-01
Series:Археология евразийских степей
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Online Access:https://evrazstep.ru/index.php/aes/article/view/1361
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author Olga V. Zelentsova
author_facet Olga V. Zelentsova
author_sort Olga V. Zelentsova
collection DOAJ
description Burials of women with casting tools are a striking feature of the Finno-Ugric antiquities of the early Middle Ages. They are known in the burial grounds of the Muromians, Mordvins, Mari people in the V–IX centuries AD. These findings allowed the researchers to conclude that the women of these tribes were engaged in jewelry craft. The purpose of this article is to analyze new similar burials from the Podbolotyevo burial ground and determine the place of these women in Muroma society. A typological analysis of the most common objects – clay ladles for pouring molten metal, allowed us to identify the early types of this instrument, which have been used since the VI century. The discovery of a clay ladle with an iron rod in the burial, which are often found together, made it possible to identify the rod as the ladle handle and served to perform safe heating operations. The dynamics of changes in the burial ritual and inventory of such burials are traced, which allowed us to conclude that at the turn of the I-II millennium, changes took place in Muroma society, in which female foundry workers were also involved. The presence of coins in the burials, acting as a means of payment, as well as finding weighing tools in the foundry complexes suggest that foundries at that time were involved in commodity relations. The special position of these women in society and, probably, the fear of them led to the fact that after their death certain rituals were performed with their remains, which we record in the form of destruction of the headboard of the deceased.
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institution Kabale University
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publisher State institution «Tatarstan Аcademy of Sciences»
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spelling doaj-art-6611111dea6a4d878fa851d046bbf5242025-01-25T12:33:13ZengState institution «Tatarstan Аcademy of Sciences»Археология евразийских степей2587-61122618-94882024-08-01430932510.24852/2587-6112.2024.4.309.325Once Again about Women's Burials with Jewelry Tools from the Muroma Burial Grounds in the Lower Oka RegionOlga V. Zelentsova0Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117036, Russian FederationBurials of women with casting tools are a striking feature of the Finno-Ugric antiquities of the early Middle Ages. They are known in the burial grounds of the Muromians, Mordvins, Mari people in the V–IX centuries AD. These findings allowed the researchers to conclude that the women of these tribes were engaged in jewelry craft. The purpose of this article is to analyze new similar burials from the Podbolotyevo burial ground and determine the place of these women in Muroma society. A typological analysis of the most common objects – clay ladles for pouring molten metal, allowed us to identify the early types of this instrument, which have been used since the VI century. The discovery of a clay ladle with an iron rod in the burial, which are often found together, made it possible to identify the rod as the ladle handle and served to perform safe heating operations. The dynamics of changes in the burial ritual and inventory of such burials are traced, which allowed us to conclude that at the turn of the I-II millennium, changes took place in Muroma society, in which female foundry workers were also involved. The presence of coins in the burials, acting as a means of payment, as well as finding weighing tools in the foundry complexes suggest that foundries at that time were involved in commodity relations. The special position of these women in society and, probably, the fear of them led to the fact that after their death certain rituals were performed with their remains, which we record in the form of destruction of the headboard of the deceased.https://evrazstep.ru/index.php/aes/article/view/1361archaeologylower oka regionthe muromiansjewelry makingfoundry accessoriesearly middle agesburial ritethe volga finnsemale foundry workers
spellingShingle Olga V. Zelentsova
Once Again about Women's Burials with Jewelry Tools from the Muroma Burial Grounds in the Lower Oka Region
Археология евразийских степей
archaeology
lower oka region
the muromians
jewelry making
foundry accessories
early middle ages
burial rite
the volga finns
emale foundry workers
title Once Again about Women's Burials with Jewelry Tools from the Muroma Burial Grounds in the Lower Oka Region
title_full Once Again about Women's Burials with Jewelry Tools from the Muroma Burial Grounds in the Lower Oka Region
title_fullStr Once Again about Women's Burials with Jewelry Tools from the Muroma Burial Grounds in the Lower Oka Region
title_full_unstemmed Once Again about Women's Burials with Jewelry Tools from the Muroma Burial Grounds in the Lower Oka Region
title_short Once Again about Women's Burials with Jewelry Tools from the Muroma Burial Grounds in the Lower Oka Region
title_sort once again about women s burials with jewelry tools from the muroma burial grounds in the lower oka region
topic archaeology
lower oka region
the muromians
jewelry making
foundry accessories
early middle ages
burial rite
the volga finns
emale foundry workers
url https://evrazstep.ru/index.php/aes/article/view/1361
work_keys_str_mv AT olgavzelentsova onceagainaboutwomensburialswithjewelrytoolsfromthemuromaburialgroundsinthelowerokaregion