Arrowheads from the Suburban Area of the Fortress Town of Sviyazhsk on the Basis of “Tatarskaya Slobodka” Excavation Area

Abstract

A significant collection of arrowheads has been accumulated as a result of large-scale excavations of late medieval archaeological sites in Tatarstan. The paper features the first publication of a unique collection of iron arrowheads dating back to the 16th – 17th centuries discovered at “Tatarskaya Slobodka” excavation in the suburban area of the fortress town of Sviyazhsk in 2012–2014. The study has provided the physical characteristics, structural and morphological features of each item, as well as the counterparts, chronological and territorial aspects of distribution. A detailed description and comprehensive study of these artifacts facilitate the future use of this material as a framework for the attribution and dating of similar findings discovered at other late medieval monuments, and individual study thereof. The authors have established that single original items with different features existed within particular types of findings together with similar “identical” arrowheads. The obtained data indicate that exact dating is impossible without a thorough study of each arrowhead, and external “similarity” can result in erroneous dating.

Keywords

• archaeology
• Middle Volga region
• Republic of Tatarstan
• Sviyazhsk
• “Tatarskaya Slobodka” excavation 2012–2014
• armament complex
• arrowheads
• Late Middle Ages