Приноси към българската археология (Mar 2018)
Отново за Руско-варяжските култови брадвички на Долен Дунав – Corrigenda et addenda (по повод нови находки от Дръстър/Силистра)
Abstract
A small bronze axe with a wide circular hole for a small wooden shaft (Figs. 2, 3) was found in front of the eastern defensive wall (Fig. 1) during archaeological excavations in Drustar (the present-day town of Silistra) in 2015. Three similar artifacts were found on the Lower Danube – in Drustar (Figs. 5, 6), in Preslav (Figs. 7, 8) and in Păcuiul lui Soare, the island fortress near Drustar (Fig. 4). More than 60 axes dated back to the 11th – 12th century, similar in size and decoration, were found in Kievan Rus and the neighboring territories (Bilyar in Volga Bulgaria and Sarkel) (Figs. 9, 10). The only explanation for the shaft-hole axes in Drustar, Preslav and Păcuiul lui Soare is that they were brought here during the military campaigns of Prince Svyatoslav on the Lower Danube in 969-971. This suggests an earlier terminus post quem, probably in the mid10th century. Two more miniature silver axes (Figs. 18, 19) and a bronze axe (fig. 20, 21) have been found in Drustur, probably worn as pendants. At this stage of research they can be hypothetically related with the Russian–Varangian cults dated back to the 10th century. It is also possible that the artefacts reflect a syncretism between the cult of the Scandinavian deity Thor (whose attribute is the hammer-axe) and the Slavic deity Perun.
