Little-Known Aspect of Ancient Rus Peasant Everyday Life (About Woodwork from Sophiyivska Borshchahivka)

Abstract

It is proved that solely socio-economic description is not enough for study of features of mediaeval societies and it is impossible to understand the population’s mode of life of this period without treating everyday life as a phenomenon of activity in the non-productive sphere. Archaeological materials of the Kyiv Rus period allow tracing certain specific features of everyday life mainly by the findings of relevant items. Woodwork, which was widespread in Ancient Rus everyday life, is rarely preserved among the archaeological artefacts of South Rus because of the peculiarity of dry soil. The main source for the study of woodwork in this region are artefacts made of metal, mainly tools and metal parts of wooden objects. The source base condition raised attention to each case of record of archaeological wood. Thereby, an attention should be paid to the materials from the excavations at Sophiyivska Borshchahivka settlement near Kyiv. There, in the burned dwelling dated to the second half of the 11th century, the following fragmented charred wooden objects were found: dishes, a comb, turned items (supposedly decorative parts of house furnishing or handles of covers, etc.), probably a shovel of a spoon, and also other things, the functional definition of which is impossible because of debris’ small size. Objects were made of maple, ash, birch, and aspen/poplar. Further accumulation of such facts will allow in future to pass from listing the range of household items to the discussion of peculiarities of everyday life as a social and cultural phenomenon.