Stone Casting Mould from the Muromsky Gorodok fortified Settlement on the Samara Bend

Abstract

An accidental discovery of a casting mould fragment on the Bulgar fortified settlement named Muromsky Gorodok (Samara oblast) is made public. The form refers to the bilateral type. The front side is designed for casting two bracelets, the preserved side – for the manufacture of lunar and coin-shaped pendants. The products belong to the ancient Russian types, including to those well-known on the territory of Volga Bulgaria. The combination of pockets for casting different types of objects in a single mould allows dating it from the second half of the 12th through to the early 13th century. As Muromsky Gorodok was situated on the Volga trade route, the find may serve as evidence of both the presence of Russian jewelers in the settlement and the reproduction of ancient samples by Bulgar jewelers.

Keywords

• the Middle Volga river region
• Volga Bulgaria
• the Muromsky Gorodok fortified settlement site
• copper casting production
• casting mould
• ancient Russian jewelry
• lunar pendants
• bracelets