Ancient Russian Treasure Hoard from Novi Bezradychi of Kyiv Oblast Cover Image

Древнерусский клад из с. Новые Безрадичи Киевской области
Ancient Russian Treasure Hoard from Novi Bezradychi of Kyiv Oblast

Author(s): Liudmila V. Strokova
Subject(s): History, Archaeology, Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries
Published by: Издательский дом Stratum, Университет «Высшая антропологическая школа»
Keywords: Ancient Rus’; 11th—13th centuries; Tumoshch town; hoards; jewelry; torques; bracelets
Summary/Abstract: The collection of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine contains a hoard found in the village of Novi Bezradychi (Kyiv oblast, Obukhiv region). The hoard was handed over to the Museum in 1988. Near the place where the hoard was found, in the village of Stari Bezradychi, there are ramparts of the Ancient Rus’ fort dated back to the 11th — 13th centuries and identified by the researchers as the Ancient Rus’ town of Tumoshch, which is mentioned in chronicles. To date, the hoard has not been introduced into scientific discussion. The hoard contains six items: twisted torques and twisted bracelets, as well as two unidentifiable fragments of décor. A feature of the hoard is the lack of locks and tips for the torques and bracelets; and this complicates the dating of that complex. The bracelets and torques fall within the turn of the 11th and the 12th centuries through the end of the 12th century, but the crinum-shaped ornaments on the decorative plate are characteristic of the second half of the 12th — the mid of the 13th century. Generally, this set of items can be dated to the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries through the second half of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century. The preservation of the hoard and the broken-off jewelry tips make it possible to consider the hoard as a stock of raw material for craftsman’s work and probably possessed by a jeweler. Burying of the hoard could well have been caused by the Polovtsian raids, as well as by seizing and plundering of Kyiv by the troops led by Andrey Bogolyubski in 1169, and also by the Tatar-Mongol invasion.