Silver Tableware from the Nomad Burials of 13th –14th Centuries on the East European Plain

Abstract

The article considers 31 nomad burials of 13th – 14th cc. containing prestigious silverware (waist bowls, ladles and goblets) discovered in the territory of nine regions of the East European Plain (Trans-Volga, Volga, Don, Cis-Caucasus, Kuban, Donets, Dnieper, Ob, Bug and Trans-Dniester regions). It is one of the most informative and expressive groups of nomadic burial inventories only available for the the representatives of the ruling elite and included in the attributes of nomadic aristocracy of 13th – 14th cc. The description of each finding is provided together with the aggregate data concerning the dating of the burials, their type and the gender of the deceased. The authors consider the role of tableware in burial rites and its correspondence the representatives of family and tribal nomadic Golden Horde aristocracy.

Keywords

• archaeology
• East European Plain
• medieval nomads
• Golden Horde
• silverware
• toreutics
• ladles
• bowls
• social stratification