Winegrower’s Knives in the Mediaeval Crimea

Abstract

This paper addresses the archaeological evidence of the development of viticulture in the mediaeval Crimea as a specialized branch of agriculture. Although the scholarship mentions the areas where vines were planted (Dimitraki hollow, the vicinity of the castle of Siuiren’, Mangup, etc.), these publications do not provide any appropriate descriptions or illustrations. Therefore, reliable archaeological sources include primarily the finds of special winegrower’s knives with a curved (crescent-shaped) blade. There are three zones of their distribution in the south-western (vicinity of Cherson, Eski-Kermen, Mangup, and the vicinity of the castle of Siuiren’), south-eastern (Tepsen’ and Kordon-Oba), and southern Crimea (Isar-Kaia and the vicinity of the castle of Funa). Their chronology covers the period from the eighth to thirteenth centuries. There are two main groups of winegrower’s knives determined according to their morphological features: group 1 comprises tanged knives and group 2 socketed knives. Each group is divided into two subgroups, depending on the presence or absence of a special trapezoidal protrusion, or “axe”, on the back of the blade. The iconographic materials demonstrate that winegrower`s knives of subgroup 1B occurred in the Late Byzantine Period (tanged winegrower’s knife with a sub-rectangular “axe” on the back of the blade). Western European Late Mediaeval miniatures demonstrate the functional use of winegrower`s knives of subgroup 1A (small tanged knives with no “axe”) intended for cutting bunches of grapes.