Weavers’ knife decorated with silver masks – men faces with beards and with headdresses (helmets?)

The burial mound №74 excavated by S.I.Sergeev is a centerpiece in the central burial mounds’ group of the Gnezdovo burial ground. Firstly, researchers often refer it to the group of burial mounds where the local nobles/ aristocracy was buried. Reasons for such conclusions were a big size of the burial mound and rich implements of the burial.
The burial in the mound was made as a ritual of the cremation in a boat (234 boat’s rivets were discovered) with rich implements: armament supplies, wooden pail, remains of ceremonial clothing, a belt’s set (decorations of a warrior’s belt), a clay figurine, woman’s oval fibula-clasp.
Circumstances of finding the weaver’s knife that was considered to be a “scramasax” (combat knife) or a sacrificial knife are interesting. Near a thick layer of the fire-pit (a layer left after the ritual burning) an iron caldron was placed and inside it a skull of a goat was laying and a knife was laying on the caldron.
The Gnezdovo burial mound C-74 excavated by Sergeev is often compared with the burial mound “the Black Grave” in Chernigov, where as it is assumed also were buried representatives of local nobles – a prince or a druzhina’s leader.
Gnyozdovo (Gnyozdovo archeological site) is one of the biggest trade and craft early-city centers of Ancient Rus and a predecessor of historic Smolensk – the capital of the Ancient Rus of the XII-XIII centuries.
Gnyozdovo is located in 13 km from modern Smolensk. It includes several archeological sites on both banks of the Dnieper river: 1. the central hillfort and the settlement near the place where the river Svinecz fall into the Dnieper river; 2. the Olshansky hillfort and the settlement near the place where the river Olsha fall into the Dnieper river; 3. the Eight burial mounds’ groups on both banks of the Dnieper river: Central, Forestal, Glushenkovskaya, Left-Bank, Dnieper, Olshanskaya, Zaolshanskaya, Nivlenskaya.
The first description of these burial mounds’ groups and the hillfort was made in the beginning of the XX century by S.I. Sizov. In the 20-ies of the XX century in burial mounds’ groups about 4500 mounds were counted.
Examination of Gnezdovo, its burial mounds at the first place, started in 1874 after one of the richest ancient Russian hoards was found.
After the longstanding research of the Gnezdovo complex discussions around its historical interpretation and its chronology, type and political status in the times it existed are continuing.
Some researchers assumed, that Gnezdovo was a point of control over snaking trails (a snaking trail is an area between two waterways through which the vessel was dragged to continue the way) from the Dnieper river to the Dvina river, “an open trade and craft settlement” with an inconstant structure of population, which rise and fall was connected with serving the waterways: moving merchants and military groups on the Dnieper river and also functioning of the market.
According to the other point of view, Gnezdovo was one of the points of national settlements headed by Kiev, trading post, connected to the administrative-fiscal activity of druzina of the grand prince – poliudie. Vast necropolis of this archeological site is interpretted as a cemetery of a druzhina. Population of Gnezdovo besides the druzina members consisted of craftsmen and farmers who served in grand prince’s land. Not denying the importance of craft and trade in population’s life, supporters of this idea suppose, that its smithcraft and gold-work were oriented to the needs of druzhina in the first place, including crafting expensive items that were meant to decorate the everyday life of druzhina elite.
The third conception states that Gnezdovo was an early-city center of the period of the infancy of the Ancient Russian state with developed trade and craft functions, stable demographic situation and obvious differentiation of its population. According to materials of the burial mounds and settlements, Gnezdovo’s society included groups of people connected with military service, distant and close trade, crafts and agricultural activities. Aristocratic elite existed in Gnezdovo as good weaponed warriors and mostly of Scandinavian origin.
The latest burials of Gnezdovo are dated the last quarter of the X – turn of the XI century.
Along with the adoption of Christianity in Rus and in Scandinavia the transformation of the pagan culture and funeral rituals happened. In the end of the X – the first half of the XI centuries specific traits of Scandinavian funeral ritual became lost, the number of things of northern origin decreased rapidly.
The decline of Gnezdovo is mainly connected to the graduate end of Arabian silver coins import in the end of the X century. Simultaneous entrenchment of power of princes of Kiev in the end of the X – the beginning of the XI centuries decreased the Scandinavian flow to Rus and changed their position: in times of Vladimir and Yaroslav they served as hired warriors in druzhina of the grand prince.