EAA 2022: Abstract

Throughout the 8th–12th centuries many events occurred in the south of the Russian Plain which were related to rise and fall of the Khazar Kaganate. Numerous nomadic peoples left behind their archaeological footprints across the Volga-Don steppes. Such graves contained unique silk and cotton cloths. Because of fragmentary nature of the discovered archaeological assemblages, it was not possible to determine their historical context. Technological and isotopic characteristics of textile items helped reconstruct both the ‘biography’ of the items and the ‘biography’ of their owners. Analysis of the funerary offerings suggests that warriors from the Khazar Kaganate or other nomadic people (Petcheneg, Polovtsian or Oghuz) were buried in the graves. They wore clothes made from silk and cotton. It is likely that cotton cloths travelled from the east to the west along the network of Great Silk Road trade routes that also ran across the Eurasian steppes together with silk cloths and other exchange items or as parts of garments or accessories. As early as the end of the 8th century the Khazars started a transit international trade and controlled the trade routes. Military posts, such as the Sarkel fortress, built along rivers maintained order. Adult men buried in the steppe graves could be military post soldiers.

Middle Age, Khazar Kaganate, Silk, Cotton, Trade

Oral presentation

  Abstract (PDF)

Natalia Shishlina^1,2

Nadezhda Leonova²
Anna Mamonova²