Iron ax-adz from Mytulyn (Lviv region): evidence of migration or unknown type of weapons

Abstract

The article is devoted to the introduction into scientific circulation of a recent discovery – an atypical iron adz-ax from the Slovak forest near the village Mytulyn. The circumstances and place of discovery of the Mytulyn adz-ax are analysed, its connection with the settlement of the X–XI centuries is proved. In connection with this find, various types of adz-ax of the Middle Ages are studied against the background of places of finds in the cultural layer of settlements and in the early medieval hoards of iron tools from the territory of Ukraine. The conclusion about the local peculiarities of the species composition of the hoards of iron tools is substantiated. The uniqueness of the Mytulyn type of long axes for the territory of Ukraine has been clarified. Possible parallels with the findings of adz-ax of this type of tools in different regions of Eastern Europe can be traced. Unlike ordinary adz-ax, the Mytulyn find was a more specialized tool, possibly for carving single-decker boats. Such long axe-like iron bar with a rectangular cross-section and a narrow blade were common among the Western Slavs (Greater Moravia, Poland). In this regard, the possibility of the West Slavic genesis of this type of ax is considered. The closest analogy of adz-ax from Mytulyn is long curved narrow-bladed axes, which are found only in military burials in one region of the Western Volga region - the basin of the Tesha and Moksha rivers, where 32 long axes are known today. All of them are of the same type and most of them come from the Mordovian burials of the XI–XIV centuries. However, no adz-ax has been found among these axes yet. Since the druzhyna of the great Kyiv princes often involved units from outside Kyiv, the conclusion is substantiated that a long adz-ax appeared in Halychyna in connection with the campaigns of Kyiv princes against the Galicians near the turn of the XI–XII centuries. Key words: archaeological finds, iron tools, princely era, adz-ax, Mytulyn.