EAA 2022: Abstract

Unlike woolen fabrics or fabrics made from plant fibers, fragments of silk found during the excavations in Mid-Volga region are extremely rare. Kruykovsko-Kuzhnovsky cemetery dating back to the end of 7th-11th centuries was archaeologically studied in the 1930s by P.P. Ivanov. The materials from this cemetery are studied continuously by modern researchers (among them O.V. Zelentsova). A system that allows dating the burials up to half a century has been recently developed. According to Ivanov's diaries, textiles were found in about 90 burials out of 586 burials. However, only a few silk fabrics of various types were found. So far, these tissues have not been subjected to a special study. The study is an attempt to answer the question about the source of silk entering the territory of the Middle Volga, to trace the ways of its entries into the territory inhabited by the Mid-Volga Mordovians and thus expand our knowledge about the use of expensive and luxury fabrics in Europe at the end of the first millennium and at the beginning of the second millennium AD

ancient silk, Mid-Volga finns, Mordovians, ancient textiles

Oral presentation

  Abstract (PDF)

Nina Pavlova¹