«В детстве тоньше жизни нить …» Подвески-амулеты из захоронений салтово-маяцкой культуры бассейна Северского Донца
“In childhood, the thread of life is thinner…” (Pendant-amulets from the Graves of the Saltov-Mayak Culture from the Seversky Donets Basin)

Summary/Abstract: In the costume of children and women of the Saltov-Mayak culture, there is a large number of various amulets, because, due to their physical characteristics, these two groups of the population needed enhanced protection from the effects of evil otherworldly forces. The variety of pendant-amulets in children’s costumes shows that in order to protect them from the influence of evil forces and to acquire the necessary qualities for them, parents could turn to various deified entities for help. Thus, pendants made of bronze and glass in the form of a bird of prey’s claw and jagged bronze plate pendants imitating a dog’s/wolf’s jaw are associated with the world of wildlife. Among the Alan population, bronze pendants associated with the water element were widely used, designed to promote the favourable growth and development of their owner. Cross-shaped pendants served as children’s amulets, the central part of which — a square with a checkered ornament — symbolized a sown field, and the shoots located at its corners — grown on a plowed field of shoots or sprouts. In addition to pagan amulets, children’s burials in the Seversky Donets basin also contain single specimens and items related to Christianity (a pectoral bronze cross from catacomb no. 99 of the Verkhnii Saltov burial ground, a cross-shaped patch from burial no. 159, the Chervonaya Gusarovka burial ground).

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