286 69 36MB
English Pages VIII+272 [288] Year 2013
Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia 14
Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia
Editor Ingela Nilsson Editorial committee Geoffrey Greatrix (Ottawa) Michael Grünbart (Münster) Karin Hult (Göteborg) Paul Stephenson (Nijmegen) Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia is a peer reviewed series that publishes monographs, anthologies, editions and translations in the field of Byzantine Studies. The initiative for the series was taken by Lennart Rydén (1931–2002) and the first volume was published in 1986. Rydén’s keen interest in hagiography soon came to characterize the series, but it was his intention also to include other branches of Byzantine research. In accordance with this aspiration, an expansion of the scope of Studia Byzantina Upsaliensia has been undertaken in recent years. The series thus aims at including all aspects of Byzantine Studies, ranging from textual criticism and codicology to literary studies, art history, and material culture. Recent titles Britt Dahlman, Saint Daniel of Sketis. A group of hagiographic texts edited with introduction, translation, and commentary (2007) Eva Nyström, Containing Multitudes: Codex Upsaliensis Graecus 8 in Perspective (2009) Dōron rhodopoikilon: Studies in honour of Jan Olof Rosenqvist. Edited by Denis Searby, Ewa Balicka Witakowska and Johan Heldt (2012) Byzantine Gardens and Beyond. Edited by Helena Bodin and Ragnar Hedlund (2013)
VIKINGS IN THE EAST Essays on Contacts along the Road to Byzantium (800−1100) Fedir Androshchuk
ISSN: 0283-1244 ISBN: 978-91-554-8815-4 © Fedir Androshchuk 2013 Cover illustration: Istanbul-Constantinople, the wall along the Marmara Sea, tower with Emperor Theophilos’ inscription (reign c. 829–842): +ΠΥΡΓΟC ΘЄΟΦΙΛΟΥ ΠΙCΤΟΥ ЄΝ ΧW ΜЄΓΑΛΟΥ ΒΑCΙΛЄWC ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟC “Tower of Theophilus, faithful and great basileus autokrator” (photo by the author) Distributed by Uppsala University Library, Box 510, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden, [email protected]
Contents Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sources, methodology and terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
v 1 2
1 Vikings in the East – A General Outline . . . . . . . . . . . Vikings in the south-eastern Baltic area: Grobiņa and Wiskiauten. . . Geographical distribution of Scandinavian artefacts in Eastern Europe . The River Volchov and Lake Ladoga region . . . . . . . . . . Rjurikovo Gorodišče . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Russian towns in north-western Russia . . . . . . . . . The Volga–Oka region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The region of the Desna River (Šestovycja and Černihiv) . . . . . The River Dnieper area (Gnëzdovo and Kiev) . . . . . . . . . Crimea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modern reserach on Scandinavian activity in the East . . . . . . . Material culture and identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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11 11 16 16 20 21 21 25 29 32 33 38
2 Identifying Northmen in Southern Rus´ . . . . . . Rus´ as a people and a territory in written sources . . . . Rus´ identity as manifested in material culture . . . . . Rus´ as a state: some indications in the material culture . . The origin of Rus´ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . State formation and material culture . . . . . . . .
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45 45 51 57 58 60
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3 The role of Dereva and Volhynia in contacts between Northmen and Slavs in the 9th –11th centuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Written sources about Iskorosten´ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The archaeology of Iskorosten´ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sources and resources of the land of the Derevlians . . . . . . . . . Territorial structure of the Derevlian principality . . . . . . . . . . Owners and governors in the land of the Derevlians . . . . . . . . .
65 67 69 73 74 79
4 Byzantium and the Viking World – Archaeological Contacts (9th–10th c.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Traces of the first contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . Archaeological evidence for contacts in the 10th century. .
91 93 96
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Evidence for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vikings in the East
Reliquary crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Finger rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Buckles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lead seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “The route from the Varangians to the Greeks” – archaeological and textual record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The dissemination of Byzantine culture into the Viking world – how and why? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
96 97 99 100 104 107 108 110 113 117 125
5 Rituals of Power: Great Mounds and “Mound-Sitting” in Rus´ and Scandinavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 6 Contacts between Sweden and Southern Rus´ (11th–12th c.) The “Scandinavian antiquity” of Ukraine: a general outline . . . . Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silver hoards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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145 154 158 161
7 Symbols of Faith or Symbols of Status? Christian Objects in Viking Rus´ Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 8 Cemeteries and the Shaping of an Early Christian Urban Landscape in Scandinavia and Rus´ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Christian cemeteries at Birka and Sigtuna . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Northmen and the early Christian cemeteries in Kiev . . . . . . . . 193 Some Final Remarks: Vikings in the East – Cultural Adaptation and Shaping Identities . .
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Bibliography . . . . . Abbreviations . . . . Sources . . . . . . Secondary literature . .
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229 229 229 232
List of Illustrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
265 269
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