The Kursk Regional Museum of Archaeology holds items from the Dichnevsky hoard. It was discovered in the spring of 1998 near the village of Dichnya (Kurchatovsky district, Kursk region) in the scree eroded by the spring flood on the left bank of the Dichnya river, a tributary of the Seim.
The trove consists of five artifacts: a bronze false twist bracelet with flaring flat rounded ends; a plate of a silver ring with a glass opaque blue round inset decorated on the sides with a filigree pattern of loops of silver wire; two bronze rings with ornamented rhombic plates; a jewelry piece of alternating rows of glass beads and bronze buttons strung on crossed threads.
The ornaments from the Dichnevsky hoard are dated with certainty to the second half of the 14th century. Of particular interest is an ornament made of strung beads and bronze buttons. Making such an ornament required perseverance and patience. Its basis is formed by transverse rows of small bronze buttons: 28 pieces have survived. In the longest one there are six buttons, and all in all there are five such threadings in the preserved part. Each button at the base of the bow is tied in several turns with a light gray silk thread and fixed with a knot (leaving the inner opening of the bow free). Four threads are passed through the remaining loose buttons, which join these threadings together into a single piece. The free space between the buttons is occupied by glass beads of seven types strung on the lengthwise threads.
Experts were particularly interested in the fibers that were used as the basis for this ornament. After studying them using an electron microscope, they found out that the threads consisted of twisted camel’s hair with the addition of cotton fibers. This is evidence of active international trade in the 14th century.
The Dichnevsky hoard is unique because its items (the collar, bracelet, rings) are a fairly complete set of ornaments of the Kursk woman who lived in the Russian-Horde borderland in the middle — second half of the 14th century.
The trove consists of five artifacts: a bronze false twist bracelet with flaring flat rounded ends; a plate of a silver ring with a glass opaque blue round inset decorated on the sides with a filigree pattern of loops of silver wire; two bronze rings with ornamented rhombic plates; a jewelry piece of alternating rows of glass beads and bronze buttons strung on crossed threads.
The ornaments from the Dichnevsky hoard are dated with certainty to the second half of the 14th century. Of particular interest is an ornament made of strung beads and bronze buttons. Making such an ornament required perseverance and patience. Its basis is formed by transverse rows of small bronze buttons: 28 pieces have survived. In the longest one there are six buttons, and all in all there are five such threadings in the preserved part. Each button at the base of the bow is tied in several turns with a light gray silk thread and fixed with a knot (leaving the inner opening of the bow free). Four threads are passed through the remaining loose buttons, which join these threadings together into a single piece. The free space between the buttons is occupied by glass beads of seven types strung on the lengthwise threads.
Experts were particularly interested in the fibers that were used as the basis for this ornament. After studying them using an electron microscope, they found out that the threads consisted of twisted camel’s hair with the addition of cotton fibers. This is evidence of active international trade in the 14th century.
The Dichnevsky hoard is unique because its items (the collar, bracelet, rings) are a fairly complete set of ornaments of the Kursk woman who lived in the Russian-Horde borderland in the middle — second half of the 14th century.
