Jewelry craft of the Uliches

Abstract

Since the middle of the last century, a significant number of women's earrings of original shapes have been found on the territory of the forest-steppe Right Bank of Ukraine, which have attracted the attention of researchers for their perfection and artistic completeness. Although these finds were discovered mainly during household work, which made it difficult to determine the place of their manufacture, bronze stamps from the Peresopnytsia burial site in Volyn were attributed to women and associated with their earrings. Most of the finds of such earrings are concentrated in the Southern Pobuzhzhia and the Prut-Dniester interfluve, mainly in Kodra. Research of treasures and archaeological excavations in the Nemyriv district confirms the existence of local jewelry production. A jeweler's treasure found in Chervone, containing stamps, unfinished pieces, and tools, shows the high level of skill of street jewelers. The jewelry craft of the street jewelers included the production of two types of earrings: massive full-bodied and openwork hollow earrings, which had a wide range of techniques such as casting, soldering, skinning, and grain. The high quality and standardization of the products demonstrate the significant development of jewelry art in this region, despite the lack of its own raw material base. The archaeological materials collected refute the claims of some researchers about the low level of artistic craftsmanship of the Slavs, in particular the ulichs. They show that the jewelry production of the Ulychi reached a high level in the IX-XII centuries and was an important component of the socio-economic development of the forest-steppe region where the Ulychi lived.