Manufacturing Complexes for the Non-Ferrous Metals Processing of the Golden Horde Cities: Search for Analogies

Abstract

The article is devoted to the Golden Horde complexes associated with the processing of non-ferrous metals and the organization of handicraft production. Historiography has repeatedly voiced the significant role of the masters of the conquered territories in the formation of the metalworking production of the Golden Horde. In the article the characteristic features of the Golden Horde craft complexes are considered in comparison with similar complexes of Kievan Rus cities, as well as with some traditions of the organization of Central Asian craft. Data from workshops of Tsarevskoe, Uvekskoe, Bolgarskoe settlements, Staryy Orhey were brought in. The complexes are considered in terms of such parameters as location in the city planning system, type of structure, presence of smelting furnaces and hydraulic structures, set of production, range of products and coexistence with other industries. It is noted that in the cities of the Golden Horde there are various forms of organization of metalworking crafts, small workshops in craft districts and complex workshops functioning within household plots. The workshops location is not clearly defined; in general, they do not form specialized areas. The structures in which the workshops operate have no design features and may not contain heat engineering structures. Workshops for the processing of non-ferrous metals most often function in conjunction with bone carving and pottery production, less often in a composition with leather, glass making, and gemstone processing. This is significantly different from the situation in Kievan Rus cities, where the processing of non-ferrous metals is most often combined in various forms with the processing of ferrous metals. The handicraft complexes of the Golden Horde cities demonstrate a wide variety of forms, and most of them find their analogies in the materials of ancient Russian cities, therefore, it is difficult to single out specific features indicating possible genetic connections.