page 93–102 RUS
ÓÄÊ 903.22 EDN: NMPLFM
Medieval ranged weapons from the Vaganovo-1 burial mound in the Kuznetsk Cis-Salair Region
Andrey M., Ilyushin, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Kuzbass State Technical University named after T.F. Gorbachev, Kemerovo, Russia, ilushin1963@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9937-646X
Summary
This study examines a set of weapons dating to the end of the first millennium AD. The assemblage includes bows, arrowheads, and quiver hooks. After preliminary work with the sources, the findings have been published and subjected to primary analysis through typological classification. The collection exhibits considerable typological diversity among bows and arrowheads. Notably, the assemblage of bone arrowheads stands out in terms of quantity and morphological variety. Among these, we can find armor-piercing arrowheads, specifically designed to penetrate protective armor. For each category of weapons, a comparative analysis was conducted, integrating both typological and chronological frameworks. This analysis draws upon data from medieval sites across the Kuznetsk Basin. The main comparative corpus is anchored in assemblages associated with the Saratov archaeological culture, spanning multiple phases between the 8th and 12th centuries AD. It has been established that 40.5 % of the ranged weapon items from the site under study exhibit unique traits. Based on the results of this analysis, the ranged weapons complex from the Vaganovo-1 is interpreted as a highly distinctive assemblage within the context of single-cultural sites.
Keywords: Kuznetsk basin, the Middle Ages, weapons, bow, arrows.
© Ilyushin A.M., 2026
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Received 10.06.2025
Accepted 20.11.2025
Article is published: 15.06.2026
Funding. The research was carried out at the expense of the grant of the Russian Science Foundation No. 25-28-20107, https://rscf.ru/project/25-28-20107 / and the Kemerovo region — Kuzbass.
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