Medieval Melee Weapons from the Collections of Yelabuga Museums

Abstract

The Museum of archaeology and history of Tatarstan of the Yelabuga Institute of KFU and the Local history complex of the Yelabuga State Museum-Reserve exhibit an interesting set of weapons from the Bulgar monuments of the Eastern Fore-Kama and Eastern Trans-Kama regions. Most of the items were found in excavations, but there are also "accidentally discovered" finds. The most characteristic items of melee weapons are described in the article. Of particular interest are two sabers found on the sites of the lower riches of the Zai River. One of the sabers is more characteristic for the Bulgars, the other, with a somewhat late dating, was widely used among the peoples of the Steppe. Axes are represented by a great typological diversity, which cannot be attributed to the spearheads. The time of maximum distribution of most of the finds does not go beyond the pre-Mongolian period. This complex of weapons shows the complex process of the evolution of the military affairs of the Bulgars during the entire pre-Mongolian and Golden Horde periods.

Keywords

• archaeology
• lower kama region
• volga bulgaria
• monuments
• pre-mongol period
• sabers
• spears
• axes