Early Medieval Miniature Axes in Carpathian-Dniester Region. The Issues of Dating, Origin and Functionality
Early Medieval Miniature Axes in Carpathian-Dniester Region. The Issues of Dating, Origin and Functionality

Author(s): Ion Tentiuc, Valeriu Bubulici
Subject(s): History, Archaeology, Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries
Published by: Издательский дом Stratum, Университет «Высшая антропологическая школа»
Keywords: Carpathian-Dniester region; early Middle Ages; miniature axes; iron; bronze; dating; origin; functionality;semantics;
Summary/Abstract: The article considers the iron and bronze miniature axes of the early medieval times found in the Carpathian-Dniester space. These artifacts belong to the category of objects found in different regions of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the southeast of the continent, which date back to the 9th/10th—12th centuries. This period is characterized by a gradual warming of the climate, significant economic and demographic development of Europe, as well as a sudden increase in the activity of the Vikings, who combined armed attacks with trade activities, controlling the East European trade routes along the rivers to the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. The spread of Christianity, the apocalyptic fear of the approach of the year 1000 and the end of the world, the spread in Scandinavia of the cult of St. Olaf (Haraldson), the Norwegian king killed by the axe (1030), which became a symbol of his martyrdom and an iconographic attribute, gave rise to new waves of pilgrimage to the Holy Places. The routes of pilgrims who carried miniature axes with them could cross the regions east of the Carpathians, where other objects associated with the pilgrimage were discovered. It should be noted that the weight of miniature axes practically coincides with the fractions of the Baghdad “ounce” of the 9th—10th centuries, and this suggests that they could also be used as weights bringing good luck to Scandinavians in commercial transactions.

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