Belarusian Culture Research Articles

Museums of Soviet Belarus in the era of perestroika and glasnost’ (1985–1991)

Temporary distancing enables us to examine the difficult and contradictory time of museum sphere development in the USSR, which is known in history as Gorbachev’s perestroika and glasnost. The article attempts to demonstrate the expansion of the museum network in Soviet Belarus, to trace the process of its profile differentiation, and to trace the branching of museums during this time using archival sources from the collections of the Ministry of Culture of the Belarusian SSR, published statistical materials, as well as periodicals. The source base utilised made it possible to examine public efforts and state policies in the area of museum life. One of them is the public discourse of the late 1980s and early 1990s regarding who owns the cult artistic heritage that museums have preserved during the years of anti-religious actions. The author highlights the increase of museum collaboration with Belarusian collectors while listing and discussing museum innovations from the perestroika and glasnost era. Between 1985 and 1991, there was a significant shift in the development of Belarusian museums, which gradually became more focused on international contacts. The author notes that when examining the beneficial improvements in museum life during the perestroika and glasnost era, it was during this time that there was a final, normative reluctance to record and publicize the accomplishments of Soviet society. The state policy aimed at the development of Belarusian culture and the cultures of the national communities of Belarus as an integral part of universal human culture was reflected in the filling of fresh content in all areas of work of Belarusian museums. The material and technological foundation of museums has been damaged, and their budgetary support has been constrained, by the country’s deteriorating socioeconomic position. This called for the adoption of new management techniques, organizational structures, and technological advancements, which happened following the failure of the Soviet Union. In general, the article expands the existing ideas in historical museology about the era of perestroika and glasnost, its role in the expansion, democratization, and professionalization of museum activities.

Ambivalence of the Image of Fire in the Belarusian National Culture

The relevance of this study is due to the current state of the information space associated with the rapid development of globalization processes. Under these conditions, traditional Belarusian culture may finally lose its identity, which will subsequently inevitably lead to the dissolution or complete loss of its unique mental traits. The article is devoted to the analysis of the mythological ideas of Belarusians, the peculiarities of their life, traditional holidays and rituals using fire as an important sacred element of the Belarusian national culture. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that fire is perceived by Belarusians as an element of ambivalent nature. Moreover, in their minds, fire is often presented as a phenomenon that has a positive effect on their way of life. Also in Belarusian traditions and rituals there is an inextricable connection between the cult of fire and the cult of ancestors. The author argues that at the present stage, the symbolism of fire plays an important role in the formation of a positive attitude towards the cultural heritage of Belarus. The “participation” of fire in the preservation and development of Belarusian national traditions has a positive impact on the formation of value orientations of society, including the younger generation.

Who Are the Basilians?

The main topic of the article is the history of the Basilian Order in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the seventeenth–eighteenth centuries, including the foundation and daily life of the order, its most important personalities, its internal laws, and relations between the clergy and laity. Particular attention is paid to the cultural role of the Basilians in social life, their struggle to survive under the Russian authorities, as well as the Basilian movement ’s crucial role in the development of Ukrainian and Belarusian culture of the Modern era. The article also describes the Basilian Order’s most revered shrines, the activities of its main donors from the Polish-Lithuanian nobility, and the masterpieces of church architecture of that era that were created in Basilian monasteries

Region w przekładzie

The Region in Translation The article consists of two parts. The first contains a summary and an interpretation of the project “New regionalism in literary studies,” initiated in 2012 by Małgorzata Mikołajczak and Elżbieta Rybicka, joined by researchers from, among others, Białystok, Olsztyn, Katowice and Wrocław. The author looks at both external reception, analyzing reviews of the publications that are the aftermath of the New Regionalist conferences, and internal one, i.e. self-diagnoses formulated by its participants. One of the conclusions is the postulate to strengthen interregional comparative studies, which can be helped by the use of tools developed in the field of translation studies, especially in its cultural variety. The second part is devoted to the Belarusian writer from Podlasie, Sokrat Janowicz, who treated translation as a way to overcome the particular determinants of his own work and Belarusian culture.

A Comparative Approach to Belarusian Ethnicity

The article is a scholarly review of the monograph “Faces of the Other in the Multilingual Belarusian Literature of the 19th Century” written by N. L. Bakhanovich. The book examines the image of “The Other” in Belarusian literature of the 19th century. Bakhanovich refers both to Polish-speaking romanticists (for example, A. Mickiewicz) and to some Russian-speaking authors to illustrate the main message of the book. From a methodological point of view, Bakhanovich follows the traditions of the Russian school of comparative literature and develops the thoughts of A. N. Veselovskii, Yu. M. Lotman, and others about the importance of describing the perception of “the other”, i.e., of a different cultural, religious, and ritual space reflected in literary works, for a more accurate understanding of the Belarusian culture and ethnicity. Although the book attempts to use the methodological framework of “imagined communities”, as presented by the British political scientist and sociologist B. Anderson, it is not convincingly justified. The book touches upon the difficult issue of cultural self-identification of the lands of modern Belarus; a number of the conclusions made by the author are controversial and in need of additional commentary, as is the terminological apparatus chosen to represent several political issues (for example, an attempt to consider the inclusion of the territories of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the Russian Empire as an act of colonization). Such a publication is undoubtedly a significant contribution to the development of scholarly ideas about the formation of the Belarusian literary tradition in the 19th century.

Концепт Гродно: словарные дефиниции и ассоциации

The paper reports on a study of the national-geographical cultural concept Grodno, using data from 33 different types of dictionaries published between 1907 and 2014, as well as an associative experiment. The study aimed to collect and analyze information about the lexeme Grodno presented in dictionaries and determine the main characteristics of the concept. The structure of the concept was found to include core, value, image, and conceptual components. Only 10 dictionaries recorded the lexeme Grodno, but the study was able to create its own word-formation nest with the lexeme, comprising 8 units. The results of the associative experiment helped identify the concept Grodno in the language picture of the world of 100 Grodno citizens. The paper examines the concept Grodno, its structure, and its linguistic representation, considering cognitive and linguacultural aspects. The study used a complex method of analysis, employing a range of general scientific and linguistic methods. Based on the analysis of dictionary definitions and the associative experiment, a generalized model of the concept Grodno and its components is presented, including the city and its location, the first mention of the city, the number of inhabitants, history, people related to Grodno, architecture, industrial sectors and enterprises, infrastructure, environmental condition, and evaluation (fame). The paper highlights the importance of the concept Grodno as a fundamental concept of Belarusian culture, reflecting the idea of the city in the linguistic picture of the world of Russian-speaking people.

Implementation of the Politics of Memory in the Belarusian National Movement in Interwar Poland

The article deals with the little-studied issue of the memory politics of Belarusian national activists in interwar Western Belarus. In historiography, this issue is just beginning to acquire its own research field using new approaches and methods. The author of the article reveals the role of historical education and upbringing in the memory politics of Belarusians in interwar Poland, analyzes commemorative practices connected with the installation of monuments to famous Belarusian public figures in cemeteries and holding memorial events, gives a definition of the “literary” direction of historical politics, where representatives of Belarusian culture, rather than famous political figures, were in the first place.

Образ города в книгах Павла Шпилевского и Владислава Сырокомли: вербальное vs визуальное

The article deals with the famous works of two natives of Belarus in the middle of the 19th century, Władysław Syrokomla and Pavel Shpilevsky. Their books are among the first historical and ethnographic works about Belarus. The purpose of this study is to compare literary descriptions with visual representations in the works of modern writers, graphic artists K. Rusetsky, M. Yanushevich, an unknown artist named Shklevik, and another anonymous master. The works performed at the early 19th century by J. Peszka and the last third of the 19th century by N. Orda can only serve to expand the illustrative series of the article, since the emphasis will be on the chronotopic simultaneity of verbal and visual in the display of Belarusian culture in the middle of the 19th century. In the texts of these authors, sublime, romantic poetics associated with native places is born, and the image of the city turns out to be a space filled with meanings combining nostalgia for the historical past and modernity, which the authors noted previously unnoticed and previously misunderstood, for example, folk peasant culture, and elements of progress, for example, the growth of educational institutions and industrial factory buildings in small towns. At the same time, they are interested in artifacts corresponding to the greatness of the lands in the categories of Enlightenment culture and its distant ancestor – Renaissance culture.

Archiving the digital semiosphere: A study in Belarus

ABSTRACT This paper explores grassroots community activist art archives and their ability to disseminate and preserve digital protest art in the period surrounding the Belarusian 2020 presidential election. This paper focuses on the cultural aspects of these digital archives and argues that they have become a recent source for describing, defining and communicating Belarusian culture in ways that have challenged the norms of political power and the centrality of the archives of state institutions.

BELARUSIAN WOMEN'S COLLABORATIONISM AS A TOOL OF GERMAN PROPAGANDA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The article examines the phenomenon of Belarusian women's collaboration in the context of the problem of German propaganda in the occupied Soviet territory during the Great Patriotic War. The study was conducted on the materials of the General District of Belarus, chronological framework – 1941-1944. The paper analyzes the materials of propaganda for women and the activities of Belarusian women's collaborationist organizations in the territory of the General District of Belarus. The district occupied about a quarter of the pre-war territory of the BSSR and included mainly western and part of the central districts. The object of the study was German propaganda for women and the occupation policy towards women in the territory of the General District of Belarus. Research methods: analysis, synthesis, comparison. The purpose of the work is to analyze the content of German propaganda for women and the activities of Belarusian women's pro-German associations, to determine their goals and effectiveness. The author comes to the conclusion that the long period of German occupation of a number of Soviet territories, in this case the BSSR, caused the appearance of some specific features of the occupation policy. The head of the German civil administration of the district, Wilhelm Kube, made the main bet on propaganda and encouragement of various kinds of nationalist collaborationist organizations that were supposed to carry out systematic ideological influence on the population of the district. In addition, W. Kube initiated the creation of special "women's" organizations in the district. A special place among them was occupied by the Association of Belarusian Women and the All-Belarusian Women's Committee. In general, the phenomenon of Belarusian women's collaboration had two components – political and cultural education. The first of them was mainly related to the activities of the "Union of Belarusian Youth" (SBM), built on the principle of the German "Hitler Youth". The second component of the Belarusian women's collaboration was cultural and educational, which took place in the context of the policy of "Belarusization". Art exhibitions, contests, concerts were organized under the sign of the national Belarusian symbols. Well-known Belarusian cultural activists, poetesses Natalia Arsenyeva and Larisa Geniyush, have shown themselves in this area. However, the actualization of the "women's issue" in German propaganda, as well as the participation in propaganda actions and campaigns of well-known representatives of Belarusian culture, did not bring the expected results to the occupation authorities. Propaganda contrasted sharply with the realities of the occupation regime. Punitive expeditions against civilians, methods of fighting partisans, the actual genocide of the peoples of Belarus, the looting and destruction of its cultural and historical heritage – all this together devalued the content of German propaganda, made obvious the false imitation nature of the policy of "Belarusization" and the activities of the collaborators themselves.

Dr. Maria Paula Survilla (1964–2020): A Scholar and Advocate of Belarusian Culture by Zina Gimpelevich and Natallia Hardzienka

Reviewed by: Dr. Maria Paula Survilla (1964–2020): A Scholar and Advocate of Belarusian Culture by Zina Gimpelevich and Natallia Hardzienka Arnold McMillin Gimpelevich, Zina (comp.) and Hardzienka, Natallia (ed.). Dr. Maria Paula Survilla (1964–2020): A Scholar and Advocate of Belarusian Culture. Limaryus, Minsk, 2021. 408 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Resumé. Price unknown. Paula Survilla was the daughter of Ivonka Survilla, one of the leaders of the Belarusian community in North America. At the time of her premature death from a rare disease she was Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology at Wartburg College, Waverly, IA, USA. The present multi-lingual Gedenkschrift covers a wide range of subjects written by scholars, politicians and other public figures, as well as some poetic tributes, and is illustrated by numerous photographs. It is undoubtedly a worthy memorial to a rich life. The book opens with a poem by Juraś Šamiećka ‘Manaloh Paŭliny Survily’, followed by a translation into English by Jim Dingley. After the Introduction, also in two languages, the volume is divided into six sections, the title of which will only be given here in English or, where appropriate, in French or Spanish, and details of authors will have to be minimal. Section one comprises three tributes to the dedicatee, the first of which, ‘With Belarus at Heart’, is by Stanislaŭ Šuškievič who played a leading role in forming independent Belarus before the arrival of Lukašenka. Next is an essay by Jocelyne Guilbault (Berkeley, CA), ‘Maria Paula Survilla’s Ethnomusical Studies of the Power of Language and Popular Music in Belarus’, and finally, ‘Parcours de combattantes’ by Marie-Laure Girou-Swiderski (Ottawa) compares Survilla with an eighteenth-century French polymath Thiroux d’Arconville. Section two comprises poems by Belarusians all of whom now live in Canada: Siarhiej Paniźnik, Voĺha Ipatava, Piotra Murzionak and Juraś Šamiecka. Section three, ‘Belarus in History and the Present Day’, is extremely varied: Virginie Symaniec (Paris) writes about how Janka Kupala’s classic play Paŭlinka was artificially turned into a Soviet classic: ‘L’Affaire Paŭlinka de Ianka Koupala (1882–1942) sous la “Loi Nefed” (1916–1999) ou comment fabriquer du “Soviétique” à partir d’écrits qui ne le sont pas’; Alieś Smaliančuk (Warsaw) presents the autobiographies of two political victims in the 1930s, found in the archives of the security services, ‘Napisaŭ sobstvennoručno…: Aŭtabijahrafii Paŭla Valošyna (1891–1937) i Fliahonta Valynca (1878–1937)’; David Marples (Alberta) and Veranika Laputska (Warsaw) present a very actual problem, ‘Dealing with Trauma in Contemporary Belarus: Official and Unofficial Remembrance of NKVD Executions (1937–1941)’; Siarhiej Navumčyk (New York) assesses a political figure, ‘Piotra Mašeraŭ: Nia čornaje i nie bielaje’; Soviet artistic romanticism at a time of stagnation is the subject of ‘Nacyjanaĺny ramantyzm u mastactvie Belarusi 1970–1980-ch hh.’ by Siarhiej Chareŭski (Vilnius); leading historian Hienadź Sahanovič (Minsk–Warsaw) writes about [End Page 371] one of his most distinguished predecessors, Mikola Jermalovič (1921–2000) in ‘Pa śliadach zmahańnia z adnym histaryčnym mifam’, attempting to account for the posthumous popularity of the latter’s work. Section four, entitled ‘Belarus and the World’, begins with an entertaining piece by Pierrot Lambert (Ottowa), ‘L’Aventure du Baroque de l’Italie à la Biélorussie’; Zachar Šybieka (Tel-Aviv) describes the potentially controversial role of Jews in nation building, ‘Kuĺturnyja ŭzajemaŭplyvy Bielarusaŭ i Jaŭrejaŭ u pracesie farmavańnia sučasnych nacyj (niebiassprečnyja tezisy dlia razvažańnia)’; Irina Chikalova (Minsk) writes about the Western roots of the Belarusian scholarly tradition, ‘V poiskakh preemstvennosti: Ob istokakh belorusskoi nauchnoi traditsii v izuchenii istoriii zarubezhnykh stran’; finally, David H. Swartz (Nappanee, IN) reminisces about his experiences as the first American ambassador to Minsk after the collapse of the USSR, ‘The First years of USA-Belarus Diplomatic Relations’. The penultimate section is very diverse in content as its title implies: ‘World Literature, History and the Present Day’. It begins with a witty and most learned article by Iryna Dubianeckaja (Minsk) about the first book of Genesis, ‘The Humpty-Dumpty Earth and the One Who Made the World of It: Creation in Genesis 1’; quite different is...

German Propaganda and Policy on the National Question on the Territory of the General District of Belarus in the 1941–1944s

Based on previously unpublished historical sources of the National Archive of the Republic of Belarus (NARB), the article examines the problem of German propaganda and policy on the national issue in the General district of Belarus. The study purpose is to determine the content and objectives of propa-
 ganda and policy on the national issue and its effectiveness. Research methods include analysis and synthesis.
 As a result of the research, the author has come to a number of conclusions. First of all, V. Kube, head of the German administration, made a bid to attract Belarusian nationalists to promote the so-called «Russian revolution». «Belarusization» is viewed as a tool for fulfilling economic and political tasks, also as a preventive tool in the fight against the development of the partisan movement. Second, the diverse and large-scale propaganda activities affected all
 spheres of public life, they are schools, churches, media, culture, science, etc.
 Third, the propaganda of the so-called «Belarusization» consisted of two lines, on the one hand, «the idea of national revival of the Belarusian culture, language, the development of national consciousness», and on the other hand, the
 idea of the Belarusian nation’s closeness to the cultural-historical space of Europe and Germany, which is inseparably connected to the historical destiny of Belarus and the «New Europe».
 Fourth, a certain cultural revival observed during the German occupation of the 1941–1944s occurred only within the narrow framework of Belarusian collaboration and did not affect the population in general. Fifth, all the factors, such as «scorched earth» policy, genocide of the Jews, forced «recruitment» of Ostarbeiters, presence of a mass and effective partisan movement, as well as an effective and reliable partisan counter-propaganda were combined to neutralize the propagandists’ efforts and reduce the effectiveness of German propaganda to zero

Tekst dramatyczny jako przestrzeń dialogu międzykulturowego: Labirynty Własta Siergieja Kowalowa (wstępne rozpoznania)

This article is devoted to the analysis of Sergei Kovalov’s drama, The Labyrinths of Wlast. This work, based on a short story written in 1927 by the Belarusian writer Vaclau Lastouski, should be read through the prism of intertextual dialogue with other texts, which enable the perception of new contexts and, on the one hand, lead into the depths of history, thanks to which and through which an understanding of the essence of the processualism of the Belarusian nation’s history is achieved, and on the other hand, they lead towards Belarusian culture, resulting in initiating intercultural dialogue.

Uniwersum nadnarwiańskiej wsi w fotografii Jakuba Smolskiego

The photographs of Jakub Smolski constitute important documentation of the customs and habits of the Belarusian minority in Podlasie in the interwar period. Most of the photos were taken by Smolski in his home village of Łuka. The article presents the image of the peasant world of the Narew, Orthodox villages. A photographer from Łuka took pictures that showed the private world of the peasants. What was captured in the photographs proves the strength of the rites of passage, which were of great importance in the peasant community as they strengthened family and neighborhood ties. They expressed the stages of a person’s life in a specific order in a closed cycle of births, weddings and funerals. The collected photos are also an important testimony to the micro-history of the Belarusians of Podlasie. Photographs are of great value for historical, cultural and social reasons. They can be of great importance in popularizing Belarusian culture in Podlasie as an example of its strength and values, as well as in encouraging a return to its roots.

Book Projects on the 100th Anniversary of Belarusian State University

The article provides an overview of the books published in the Republic of Belarus for the 100th anniversary of the Belarusian State University. Four books prepared in the form of essays by faculty members of several departments (history, international relations, mechanics and mathematics) and the Fundamental Library. The greatest attention is paid to two such works. Peer-reviewed jubilee editions give a comprehensive idea of the history of the university, its structure in different years, the current state, and faculty potential. It has been established that the editions are based on rich source material. In this aspect, the work titled Unknown V.I. Picheta is especially significant, as it acquaints the reader with a previously unpublished book Review of the Activities of the Fist Western Committee by the first rector of the Belarusian State University, an outstanding historian, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the BSSR Academy of Sciences V.I. Picheta. The article point out that this book, supplemented with several dozen letters from Picheta’s correspondence with twenty colleagues, students (mainly from the time of the book’s composition), will arouse great interest in the scientific community of Belarus, Russia, and other countries. The review briefly analyzes the structure and content of the book, published in 2019, for the 130th anniversary of the university philosopher, vice-rector and dean S.Z. Katzenbogen. It is concluded that all publications do not only celebrate the anniversary of the first university in Belarus but also, taking into account their scientific component, contribute to the deepening of the study of the history of the development of Belarusian science and culture of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Reading Belarus: The Evolving Semiosis of Belarusian Textiles

Abstract This paper analyses the communicative features of traditional Belarusian textiles and embroidery, exploring their history and their use as cultural code from the earliest times to the present. Using cultural semiotic analysis, the article highlights the evolving statements textiles make in regard to contemporary Belarusian culture, with specific attention being paid to the use of textiles in the months surrounding the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath, as well as engaging current fashion design. This paper, combating ideas of Belarusian invisibility, brings to light how textiles are and continue to be symbols and visual expressions of Belarusian cultural identity, and will be useful to scholars and students in the fields of art history, Belarusian studies, cultural studies, semiotics, Slavistics, and textile, costume and fashion studies.

Results of the international project on publishing the works of Gertsel’ Shklyar

At late December 2017, in pursuance of the previously concluded international agreement on cooperation between Kostroma State University and the Centre for Research of Belarusian Culture, Language and Literature of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, a three-year work plan was approved. It included a project aimed at systematisation, scientific interpretation and preparation for publication of the heritage of Gertsel Shklyar, a talented linguist who, in the mid-20th century, contributed a lot to Belarusian linguistics, Russian linguistics, hebraistics. In the course of the project, previously unknown facts of Gertsel’ Shklyar’s biography, summary of the results of his scientific activities during his work at the Belarusian Academy of Sciences (the 1930s) and Kostroma Pedagogic Institute (the 1940s–60s) were disclosed. The linguistic scientist worked actively in the field of Belarusian studies – he participated in the compilation of the Belarusian-Russian and Russian-Belarusian dictionaries, studied Polonisms in the Belarusian language, worked on amending the existing Belarusian-language spelling, on the creation of university textbooks on the modern Belarusian language. Together with Sof’ya Rokhkind, he created the USSR’s first “Yiddish-Russian Dictionary (Jewish-Russian Dictionary)ˮ. Research in the field of the Russian language was mainly dialectological. Gertsel’ Shklyar laid the foundations for the card index of Kostroma regional dictionary. The article examines the results of the international project, highlights the events dedicated to the presentation of the book of selected works by Gertsel’ Shklyar.

Diglossia as a Strategy. Viktar Martsinovich’s Literary Work and Posture

This article investigates Viktar Martsinovich’s writings within the context of literary debates in Belarus. Positioning the discussions concerning Belarus’ national literature between the Belarusian nativist and the Russophile literary fields as the results of hegemonic struggles, I stress their discursive violence. Imposing a logic of equivalence based on (mono-) linguistic and ethnic particularisms, both discourses fail to represent the constitutive plurality of Belarusian culture. Martsinovich dissociates himself from this approach. Borrowing Jérôme Meizoz’s term “external posture”, I illustrate Martsinovich’s self-representation and self-positioning as a diglossic Belarusian-Russophone writer. Martsinovich writes in Belarusian and Russian and allows his books to be translated in both directions, creating a metaliterary dialogue which reflects the literary conflicts in Belarus. Further, he pursues particular (meta-) linguistic strategies in his texts. Russian and Belarusian allow him to achieve different effects. In Mova (2014), he stresses the performative political potential of Belarusian by “implanting” Belarusian words on a Russian matrix. In The Lake of Joy (2016), he uses Russian for a critical and realistic representation of today’s Belarus. My analysis of these strategies in the two novels will illustrate Martsinovich’s concept of a ‘Belarusian Russophone literature’ and show its importance in undermining both nativist and Russophile positions.

Formation and development of historical science in the Belarusian State University (1920–50s)

The article examines the century long way of formation and development of historical science at the Belarusian State University. It is concluded that from the very beginning of the university’s activity, the most important directions of historical research were formed in it. A special place was occupied by Belarusian studies, which became the sphere of professional activity of both historians and archaeologists, ethnographers, source researchers, historiographers, and archivists. At the same time, Russian and Slavic history was also deeply studied and since the 1920s. Belarusian antiquity, media studies, novistics et cetera has originated. It is noted that such a wide range of studies was largely determined by the fact that the university had to train specialists in the relevant fields of knowledge. Historians of BSU initiated the creation of separate research societies and institutions, including the Institute of Belarusian Culture and the Belarusian Academy of Sciences. Highlighted the stages of development of university historical science, which were characterised by their distinctive features and were determined by socio-political factors. The current state of the historical science of BSU is outlined.

A set of bone tools in the case from the settlement Asaviec 2 in the Krivina peat bog (northern Belarus)

In 2010, during the investigation of the site Asaviec 2 (Krivina peat bog, Beankovičy District, Viciebsk Region, Belarus) a unique set of tools in a case was revealed. It consists of an ornamented case made of the tubular bone of a large bird, an awl made of the lateral metapody of an elk, and a pointed bone item with an extension in the form of a wedge at one end. The method of experimental-traceological analysis was employed to determine the details of the manufacturing technology and the functional purpose of the find. According to the results of the study, a separate use of the tools was established working with plant materials, which may indicate evidence of knitting or weaving products from organic fibers. Following experimental observations, some possible ways of working with these implements are considered. Thus, on the basis of the structural and contextual features of the artefacts, a variant of their use in a composite form, where the case served also as a handle is proposed. Bone awls or points are a widespread type of tools on sites from the Stone to the Bronze Age. However, the unique set found in situ allows us to expand our knowledge of the economy and productive activities of the past. Archaeological material, revealed an accompanying set of tools and a radiocarbon date from the underlying finding of conditional layer 3810 50 BP (cal BC 24602064) (Le 10465), allow us to reconcile it with the antiquities of the Zhyzhyca-Kryvina stage of the Northern Belarusian Culture, middle of the 3rd-first half of the 2nd mill. BC.