Вооруженные дети: погребения мальчиков с парадным вооружением в Причерноморье и на Рейне (конец IV — первая половина VI в.) и первый бой князя Святослава

Abstract

Burials of children with weapons in the pre-state and early state societies of the era of the Great Migration Period — the beginning of the Middle Ages are rare. Still rarer are children’s burials, where archaeologists come across the burials of boys with prestigious weapons. These graves reflect the burial customs of the nobility. For the end of the 4 th — the first half of the 6 th centuries, two burials are distinguished — Tsibilium 1, burial 61 in Abkhazia and burial 809 in St. Severin’s Cathedral in Cologne. They are distinguished by a particularly rich and complete set of weapons. Undoubtedly, they belong to individuals who occupied the highest position in these societies. There are cases when armed children appeared on the battlefield, where they did not participate in the battle, but had to perform some ritual actions or symbolically replace their dead fathers (946, Prince Svyatoslav).