Gnjosdowo

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Gnjosdowo burial mounds ( Kurgane )

Gnjosdowo , also Gnesdowo or Gnezdovo ( Russian Гнёздово ), is a complex of archaeological settlement finds from the 10th and 11th centuries near Smolensk in Russia . It is (after Haithabu ) the second largest known in Europe from that time.

description

The complex is located at the mouth of the Kareli in the Upper Dnieper , about 13 km west of Smolensk . On an area of ​​16-20 hectares there is a fortified castle settlement, a few smaller settlements and a total of around 3,000 barrows ( Kurgane ).

Historical background

Gnjosdowo is usually identified with the early Smolensk , which is first mentioned in the Bygone Chronicle in 862. The hypothesis is supported by the fact that excavations in Smolensk did not find any layers prior to the 11th century. Gnjosdowo seems to be identical with a place called "Fortress Miliniska" from a treatise of 948 and 952 by Constantine VII Porphyrogennetus . In Scandinavian texts, the name "Sürnes" seems to refer to the place.

Finds

The Gnjosdowo burial ground once consisted of possibly 4,000 burial mounds. It is one of the richest sources of information for long-distance trade in the 9th and 10th centuries. About a third of all known Scandinavian objects from this period were found in the graves. The hoard find of Gnjosdowo , which was discovered in 1993, is of particular importance . The numerous unique pieces made of different metals include a mask pendant made of pewter and Arabic dirhams .

Gnjosdowo was an important trade and craft center. There were indications of the processing of iron, precious metals and glass beads. In addition to numerous testimonies from Scandinavian settlers, there were also traces of Baltic origins, including in the forms of burial.

Most of the finds are from the second half of the 10th century, when the complex reached the height of its importance.

Some finds point to Slavic inhabitants who came mainly from the west, possibly after the destruction of the Moravian Empire around 910. In Gnjosdowo the oldest known Cyrillic inscription in the Kievan Rus was found on a clay pot ( inscription from Gnjosdowo ).

Further development

By the middle of the 11th century at the latest, the political and economic center of settlement shifted from the right to the left bank of the river from Gnjosdowo to the place of today's Smolensk, which is explained by the change in long-distance trade routes and the successful development of the rival trading place Polatsk . During the Second World War, the Bärenhöhle headquarters , built by the Germans, was located in a forest in the municipality's area . The remains of the bunker are still preserved today.

literature

  • DA Avdussin : Gnezdovo - the neighbor of Smolensk. In: Central Institute for Ancient History and Archeology (Hrsg.): Journal for Archeology . ISSN  0044-233X , Vol. 11, 1977, pp. 263-290.
  • Eduard Mühle : Gnezdovo - the old Smolensk? For the interpretation of a settlement complex from the end of the 9th to the beginning of the 11th century. In: Oldenburg - Wolin - Staraya Ladoga - Novgorod - Kiev. Trade and trade connections in the southern and eastern Baltic Sea region during the early Middle Ages (= report of the Roman-Germanic commission. Vol. 69). Von Zabern, Mainz 1988, pp. 358-410.
  • Eduard Mühle: The urban trading centers of northwestern Russia. Beginnings and early development of old Russian cities up to the end of the 12th century (= sources and studies on the history of Eastern Europe. Vol. 32). Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-515-05616-5 , also dissertation, University of Münster, 1989, pp. 239-255.
  • Eduard Mühle: Gnezdovo. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Vol. 12. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1998, pp. 250-254.
  • Julian Richards : The Vikings. A very short introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, ISBN 0-19-280607-6 , p. 82.
  • Katherine Holman: Historical Dictionary of the Vikings. Scarecrow, Lanham MD 2003, ISBN 0-8108-4859-7 , p. 102.
  • Rafael S. Minasyan: Ladoga and Gnesdowo. In: The Vikings. Edition Minerva, Munich 2008, pp. 190–203.

Web links

Commons : Gnezdovo complex - Central hillfort  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stefan wool : Vladimir the saint. Russia's first Christian prince. Union, Berlin 1991, p. 41.
  2. ↑ cf. Simon Franklin , Jonathan Shepard : The Emergence of Rus 750-1200. 2nd Edition. Routledge, Abingdon / New York 1998, reprint 2013, ISBN 978-0-582-49091-8 , p. 140.
  3. ^ Marcin Wołoszyn: Smolensk. § 2: Archaeological and Historical. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Vol. 29, 2nd edition. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-018360-9 , pp. 158–160, here p. 158.

Coordinates: 54 ° 46 ′ 0 ″  N , 31 ° 47 ′ 0 ″  E