Инсигнии в «большом кургане» Ц-74/Серг-1900 Гнездовскоего археологического комплекса

Электронный научно-образовательный журнал "История". 2026. Т. 17. № 6(164). Статья 3.

Щавелев А. С.

The present study considers a suite of insignia recovered from the large burial mound C‐74 (Serg‐1900) within the Gnezdovo archaeological complex, dated to the 10th century. The interment was performed in situ according to the cremation‐in‐boat rite. The richness of the grave assemblage, notably the presence of several paired high‐status items (two sets of horse trappings, two female costumes and two insignia), strongly suggests a dual burial of two women of exceptionally elevated social standing. Among the grave goods was a votive clay figurine, apparently manufactured or selected specifically for deposition with the funerary ensemble. Of particular interest are the two insignia: a carved bone pommel (final), probably the terminal of a staff and plausibly charged with ritual or “magical” connotations, and an iron weaving‐knife fashioned in the guise of a sword and bearing two silver inlays. In Old Norse tradition, a sword‐like weaving implement is associated with Valkyrie imagery; in early Rus’ it is conceivable that analogous figures, described as psychopomps or “angels of death”. Employed swords as symbolic substitutes for wooden weaving implements to enact or symbolize the weaving of human fate. It is therefore plausible that the weaving‐knife-sword and a crook with decorated bone pommel functioned as a sceptres – symbols of charismatic authority.

Keywords: гендерные исследования, политическая антропология, insignia, инсигнии, символы власти, Gender studies, Symbols and images, political anthropology, Valkyrie, валькирия

Publication based on the results of: From Antiquity to Modernity: Epistemology of the Development of Spiritual and Material Cultures in Non-Western Societies (2025)