The "Log" Chains

When searching the Internet for images of Female Rus Headdress from the X to XIII century, this style of temple jewelry (Ryasny) is often returned. I casually call these the "Log Chains" (because they remind me of little logs).

Early Rus Period

 XII-1st quarter XIII c.
from hoard found in 1904 - Sviatoe ozero
near village of Nizovka, Chernigov obl.
State Historical Museum, Moscow

A few Re-Enactors wear homemade versions of the Log Chains and I have often considered making a set to wear.

They first appear to be made from cylindrical beads - either woven together horizontally, or strung together vertically. It always seemed a fairly simple make, however I never got around to building a set.

Quite recently, a correspondent on my FB feed pointed me to a scholarly article written by Natalija Ristovska. (You can find it here: The Ristovska Article). The article contains a bit of discussion about the proper wearing arrangement of a specific set of Log Chains - as compared to other sets. 

In the Article, Ristovka writes:

  

"Organic remains found on some of the Rjazan′ fragments indicate that the semi-cylindrical elements and the triangular terminals had been held together by coarse linen threads, while the entire strap had been sewed onto a leather lining."

Well, I thought, What exactly does "semi-cylindrical elements" mean and why would they be sewn onto a leather lining.

My curiosity was piqued, and the search began...

There are so many images...

Russian Jewelry Art of the XII-VX centuries - Kremlin Showcase 2

Treasure from the tract Holy Lake near Nizovka Chernigov region
Rus XII - first quarter of the XIII century

- Reconstruction -

Kiev, a treasure of 1906

from the fence of St. Michael's Monastery

XII century

From the Seventeenth Ryazan Treasure Hoard
discovered in 2013
Rus XII - first quarter of the XIII century

Seriously, I could go on and on with the photos - but I won't. There are also many fine black and white, and color sketches - which I won't post here, because I don't have permissions from the artists.

But, back to Ristovska's "semi-cylindrical elements" description, I could not find an image of the back-side of the chains.

I decided to ask for help. I posted a request for information on the Slavic Interest Group FB page - hoping someone might have already done the research. 

Lo and behold, as you do, as soon as I asked for help, I located the photo that I thought I was looking for. That I thought would give the answers.

Restoration
From the Sixteenth Ryazan Hoard

discovered in 2005

Rus - XII - first quarter of the XIII century

The backs of the little Logs look flat.

They are NOT cylindrical beads
and as Ristovka describes, are
"semi-cylindrical elements" 

Ahhhh... but the chains in this image are "Restorations". They are put together from the original pieces in the way that the Archaeologists supposed they originally went together.

The image also does not give any clues as to how the little logs were made and now I want to know more.

And so, the search continued...

Hoping that the Archaeologist Team took "before" photos
I set a focus point.

The Sixteenth Ryazan Hoard

or in Russian,

"шестнадцатый рязанский клад"

and here is the "in situ" photo. 

At the lower right, you can see the backs of a few of my little "logs".

  

Also while searching, I learned that the Archaeology Report for the hoard had been published in 2017.  [Not an easy thing to find, I don't know why.] But, I eventually stumbled onto this STARAYA RYAZAN: THE HOARD OF 2005.

On page two is written:

  

"2.1.2. Pads for suspension of colts (Tables 35, 36, 3) are hollow. For each colt, there were two surviving chains of pads. The pads look like half-cylinders with rounded ends, they are ornamented with six lateral impressions, so that between them rollers are formed. On the rounded ends of the pads, impressions of two on both sides form figures that are close in shape to the oval. The pads can be regarded as a zoomorphic motif depicting a fantastic articulate worm that has heads with large stylized eyes at both ends of the body. The Donets flat. 4 pads have 3 holes for sewing on each side, 10 - for 2.

Silver; embossing. 

The size of the pads is 26 x 7 mm, the thickness is 5 mm."

There is more information, but the above quote is the most important bit. It says:

"Silver; embossing"

Hmmm...

They don't look embossed to me. The backs are flat. More pictures are needed. Sadly, I am struggling to find any.

This is a picture of the hoard before restoration, it is nothing but fuzzy. 

Well, this is a blow up of the "in situ" photo and indeed - being all we have, these do not appear to be embossed. So what's going on. How were these pieces made.

Two very kind and lovely SCA Rus Ladies that I know, indulged my ravings one morning in a two hour long discussion on FB - but we really did not get anywhere, because the flat back indicates that these pieces are cast - not embossed. Being obsessed now, I cannot stop searching.

And then I found THESE - YAY!

 

This is a different hoard. I don't know anything about these. There was no information included with the pictures. I think these may have been, just found by someone, as in; NOT an Archaeological dig - just a find in the garden kind-of-thing. I don't know if they are being sold. I don't know anything about them. 

BUT, you can clearly see the backs of the embossed pieces. And, as direct companions, you can clearly see what I will call "linings" - that are flat. 

As a bonus, you can see the sewing holes that were described in the report of the sixteenth hoard.

Back to the description of the Sixteenth Ryanzan Hoard to see if I can read it yet again and get anything more out of it.

  

"20. A chain of pads (KP-29150/52) , tab. 36, 1. 14 pads have the shape of a half-cylinder with rounded ends. Ornamented each with six lateral impressions, so that between them formed rollers. On the rounded ends of the pads, impressions of two on both sides form figures that are close in shape to the oval. The Donets are flat. Each shoe has 3 holes for sewing on each side... 

...2.1.2. Pads for suspension of colts (Tables 35, 36, 3) are hollow. For each colt, there were two surviving chains of pads. The pads look like half-cylinders with rounded ends, they are ornamented with six lateral impressions, so that between them rollers are formed. On the rounded ends of the pads, impressions of two on both sides form figures that are close in shape to the oval. The pads can be regarded as a zoomorphic motif depicting a fantastic articulate worm that has heads with large stylized eyes at both ends of the body. The Donets flat. 4 pads have 3 holes for sewing on each side, 10 - for 2.

Silver; embossing. 

The size of the pads is 26 x 7 mm, the thickness is 5 mm."

"The Donets are flat".

What does it mean - the donets are flat?

When I search on google, I keep getting the Donets River.

Additionally, this word, will not translate. I set the Archaeology Report page back to Russian, picked the relevant words, and manually put them into the google translator and I still get "Donets". 

What? Well, here is how I finally thought to get around that.

The actual word is "Донце". A google search of just that word gets you to a Russian Wiktionary - where the synonym of the word is "bottom".

The bottoms are flat.

Yes, the bottoms are flat, BUT the bottom is a second piece of metal. And the tops are embossed. Nobody said that in the report. They should have said that in the report! Maybe "Donets" means something more than just bottom. Hmmm.

One more set of pictures that I found today. These were actually on an auction site - so sad! Get the photos while you can!

Hopefully tomorrow or the next day I will have time to make another blog post on my thoughts about how the embossing was done in period. Die Struck!