Women’s belt from mound 12 of the Belorechensk burial ground

Abstract

The article focuses on the analysis of a belt and a silver belt set from a female burial of mound 12 of the Belorechensk burial ground (excavations by Nikolai Veselovsky in 1896) now kept in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum. There was a medieval principality of the Circassians known as Kremuk located in the middle reaches of the Kuban River, in the vicinity of the modern cities of Maikop and Belorechensk. The belt was found in one of the richest female burials which probably belonged to a noble Circassian woman. The burial can be dated not earlier than the second third of the 15th – early 16th century AD. It is a women’s belt, as it lacks details typical for men’s military belts – accessories necessary for mounting weapons. It is possible that it was assembled from different parts: the plaques constitute one complex, the tip and buckle are from another one. The place of production of the belt, both silver fittings and braid, can be defined as the Black Sea region. Sash fabrics can be either imported or produced in the workshops of the Northern Black Sea region.