Hauberk (chain mail shirt)
I Century AD
Andreevka Culture (?)
Iron
Length 37 cm, width 21 cm, height 16 cm
Receipt: excavations under the supervision of P.D.Stepanov, 1963-1964; in the Historical Museum since 1982
Showcase 6
Andreevka Kurgan (burial mound) provided its name to the bright culture that existed in I-III Centuries AD in the Western Volga region. Its people participated in formation of the ancient Mordovian tribes and culture of the Finns of the Middle Oka river area. The influence of Andreevka Culture expanded as far as Moscow Region. Rare for this era, iron chainmail was found rolled up at the head of a buried man in the center of the mound in a vast, deep pit on a wooden floor, along with a rich burial inventory. It included a sword in a wooden scabbard, a spear, a javelin, a dagger, a knife and a birch-bark quiver with arrows. The outfit of the buried man included a belt decorated with a lot of bronze pendants, around his neck there was a necklace made of glass beads. Next to the main burial in the same pit, there were two more military burials with more modest equipment, and a skeleton of a man with his hands tied, probably a slave, was found at the feet.
More information...The high social status of the person buried with chain mail was emphasized by a bunch of cut out human jaws with drilled holes – military trophies, as well as the burial of horse limbs. In that mound were buried more than fifty men with weapons, and women, who could be distinguished by a large number of metal jewelry and parts of costume adornments close to Pianoborskaya culture spread along the banks of Vyatka and Kama rivers. There were also a whole lot of imported items in the mound – a bowl and fibulae of Roman manufacture, beads.
Functional purpose: hauberk (chain mail shirt) is a protective shirt, an armor that protected the body in battle.
Notice of uniqueness: such finds are rare for this era.
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