Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 46 (2) 2018   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.2.114-122

Annotation:  Excavations at Darvagchay-Zaliv-4: An Early Paleolithic Site in Dagestan Argillite Artifacts and Final Pleistocene to Middle Holocene Cultural Links Across the Vitim River B Late Krotovo (Cherno-Ozerye) Burials with Casting Molds from Tartas-1, Baraba Forest-Steppe The Andronovo Age Women’s Costume, Based on Finds from Maytan, Central Kazakhstan Textile Decoration and Patterns on the Andronovo Vessels: Possible Reconstructions A Study of Bronze Age Ceramics from the Forest Zone of Eastern Europe: What Does the Term “Fatyanovo Petroglyphs of Zanskar, India: Findings of the 2016 Season Offerings of Hunnic-type Artifacts in Stone Enclosures at Altynkazgan, the Eastern Caspian Region Old Turkic Stone Enclosures at Kyzyl-Shin, Southeastern Altai New Data on Iron-Smelting Sites in the Kuektanar and Turgun Valleys, Southeastern Altai The Technology of Manufacturing Glass Beads at Gnezdovo, Smolensk Region Mongol Warriors of the Jochi Ulus at the Karasuyr Cemetery, Ulytau, Central Kazakhstan Silver Vessels of the Golden Horde Era from the Middle Ob Basin The Cemetery at Fort Umrevinsky, in the Upper Ob Basin Remains of Brown Bear (Ursus arctos L.) from the Kaninskaya Cave Sanctuary in the Northern Urals Animal Bones in Ritual Accumulations at Monkys Uriy Manifestation of Worldviews in Traditional Narratives: Reconstruction of Global Tendencies in the Sp   

Silver Vessels of the Golden Horde Era from the Middle Ob Basin

N.V. Fedorova

Arctic Research Center of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, Respubliki 73, Salekhard, 629008, Russia

This article addresses one of the most informative archaeological sources for reconstructing medieval history––imported silver dishware, which is abundant in northwestern Siberia. Based on three newly described silver vessels of the Golden Horde Age from the Saigatino I sanctuary in the Surgut region of the Ob basin, the possible attribution of these and similar specimens from Siberia and the Urals is discussed. Locating the places where such items were made is difficult for reasons relating to the functioning of individual workshops and of the silversmiths’ schools in general. Nevertheless, a suggestion is made that the workshops were located in the Bulgar Ulus––a successor of the Volga Bulgaria, with its rich tradition of manufacturing jewelry and transporting it along trade routes directed north to the western Urals and Western Siberia. The time and the routes whereby the Golden Horde toreutics were brought to Western Siberia are assessed. All finds in this region are clustered within a small area in the Surgut region of the Ob, while similar but isolated finds in the Perm area and in the northern Urals mark the possible trade routes. The question is raised as to whether the finds of imported silverware in Western Siberia fall within the territory of the medieval Ob principalities of Koda, Bardakov, and Kunovat. The appearance of personal hoards may indicate the emergence of a new elite. Generally, the imported silver dishware of the Golden Horde age is highly relevant to social developments in medieval Western Siberia.

Keywords: Middle Ages, Golden Horde, Bulgar Ulus, silver dishware, Surgut, Ob basin, Ob principalities