New medieval sun compasses? The problem of the function of stone disks from southern Rus’
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23858/SA/76.2024.2.3290Abstract
The article explores stone disks discovered at medieval sites in Rus’. A total of eight pyrophyllite slate objects, sourced from outcrops near Ovruch (Ukraine), were analysed. These disks have been previously interpreted as various items, including calendars, craft tools such as needle sharpeners and polishing stones, as well as components of hand-operated bow drills. Through measurements and surface analysis, three stone disks (Kyiv, Listven, Liubech) exhibit similarities to Vikings’ sun compasses, with a limited number of examples found in Greenland and the Baltic Sea region. The analysed objects were dated to the period between the late 12th and mid-13th centuries. The origin of the raw material suggests local manufacturing. At the same time, the form and function may have been influenced by Scandinavian traders and sailors, aligning with the presence of these disks along rivers within the trade route ‘from the Varangians to the Greeks.’ Further studies and archaeological experiments are necessary to confirm whether these disks had a practical navigational purpose.
Downloads
References
Arneborg J., Lynnerup N., Heinemeier J., Møhl J., Ru, N. and Sveinbjörnsdóttir Á. E. 2012. Norse Greenland Dietary Economy ca. AD 980-ca. AD 1450: Introduction. Journal of the North Atlantic. Special Volume 3, 1-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3721/037.004.s303
Bernáth B., Blahó M., Egri A., Barta A. and Horvát G. 2013a. An alternative interpretation of the Viking sundial artefact: an instrument to determine latitude and local noon. Proceeding of the Royal Society A 469, 20130021. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2013.0021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2013.0021
Bernáth B., Blahó M., Egri A., Barta A., Kriska G. and Horvát G. 2013b. Orientation with a Viking suncompass, a shadow-stick, and two calcite sunstones under various weather conditions. Applied Optics 52/25, 6185-6194. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.52.006185
Bernáth B., Farkaz A., Száz D., Blahó M., Egri A., Barta A., Ĺkesson S. and Horvát G. 2014. How could the Viking sun compass be used with sunstones before and after sunset? Twilight board as new interpretation of the Uunartoq artefact fragment. Proceedings of the Royal Society A 470, 201330787. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2013.0787 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2013.0787
Duczko W. 2007. Ruś Wikingów. Historia obecności Skandynawów we wczesnośredniowiecznej Europie Wschodniej. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo TRIO.
Filipowiak W. 2020. How Vikings crossed the North Atlantic? The reinterpretation of ‘sun compasses’ – Narsarsquaq, Wolin, Truso. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 49/2, 318-328. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1095-9270.12426
Filipowiak W. 2022. Korabnictwo Wolina 800-1200. Studium archeologiczne. Szczecin: Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk.
Indruszewski G. and Godal J. 2006. Maritime skills and astronomic knowledge in the Viking Age Baltic Sea. Studia Mythologica Slavica 9, 15-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v9i0.1728
Jagodzinski M. F. 2012. Kompas słoneczny z Truso. In E. J. Jaremczuk (ed.), 100 lat lotnictwa w Elblągu (1912-2012). Aspekty historyczne, prawne i techniczne lotnictwa. Elbląg: Wydawnictwo Państwowej Wyższej Szkoły Zawodowej, 325-334.
Jagodziński F. M. 2015. Truso – legenda Bałtyku/the legend of the Baltic Sea. Katalog wystawy/Exhibition cataloque. Elbląg: Muzeum Archeologiczno-Historyczne w Elblągu.
Kovalenko V. P. and Shekun A. V. 1984. Letopisnyi Listven (k voprosu o lokalizaczii). Sovetskaya arkheologiya 4, 62-74.
Kozubovskyi H. A., Ivakin H. Yu. and Chekanovskyi A. A. 1993. Doslidzhennia urochysch Honchari ta Kozhumiaky u 1987-1989 rr. In P. P. Tolochko (ed.), Starodavnii Kyiv. Arkheolohichni doslidzhennia 1984-1989. Kyiv, 238-270.
Pavlenko S. V. 2001. Pirofilitovi priasla z Pereiaslavlia Ruskoho ta yoho okolyts. Naukovi zapysky z ukrainskoi istorii 12, 37-59.
Pavlenko S. V. 2005. Issledovanie proizvodstvennykh kompleksov Ovruchskoy srednevekovoy industrii pirofillitovogo slantsha v 2002 g. Naukovi zapysky z Ukrainskoi istorii 16, 195-209. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/phoir.016.0195
Popkiewicz E. 2012. Rekonstrukcja narzędzi, technik i technologii obróbki bursztynu z epoki kamienia. In J. Gancarski (ed.), Skanseny archeologiczne i archeologia eksperymentalna. Krosno: Muzeum Podkarpackie w Krośnie, 559-574.
Powieść minionych lat 1999. Translated by Fr. Sielicki. Wrocław, Warszawa, Kraków: Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich.
Roslund C., Thirslund S. and Pásztor E. 2003. A Mathematical Search for Viking Navigational Practices. In S. Lewis–Simpson (ed.), Vínland Revisited: The Norse World at the Turn of the First Millennium. Selected Papers from the Viking Millennium International Symposium, 15-24 September 2000, Newfoundland and Labrador. St John’s: Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, INC, 417-428.
Rozenfeldt R. L. 1964 O proizvodstve i datirovke ovruchskikh priaslich. Sovetskaya arkheologiya 4, 220-224.
Rybakov B. A. 1948. Remeslo Drevney Rusi. Moskva: Izdatelstvo AN SSSR.
Shekun A. V. and Veremeychyk E. M. 1986. Issledovaniya na Chernigovschine. Arkheologicheskie otkrytiya 1984 goda. Moskva: Nauka, 327-329
Sølver C. V. 1953. The Discovery of an Early Bearing-Dial. The Journal of Navigation 6, 294-296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0373463300027314
Stanisławski B. 2000. Dysk drewniany z Wolina jako kompas słoneczny – następny krok w badaniach nad wczesnośredniowieczną nawigacją? Materiały Zachodniopomorskie 46, 157-176.
Stanisławski B. 2002. The wooden disc from Wolin – as the next sun-compass. Viking Heritage Magazine 2, 10-11.
Sytyi Yu. M. and Skorokhod V. M. 2012. Znakhidky vyrobiv zi slantsiu na terytorii arkheolohichnoho kompleksu v ur. Korovel bilia s. Shestovytsia. In P. P. Tolochko (ed.), Materialna ta dukhovna kultura Pivdennoi Rusi: Materialy Mizhnarodnoho polovoho arkheolohichnoho seminaru, prysviachenoho 100-littiu vid dnia narodzhennia V. Y. Dovzhenka (Chernikhiv – Shestovytsia, 16-19 lypnia 2009 r.). Kyiv, Chernikhiv, 286-297.
Thirslund S. 1987. Viking Navigation. Sun-compass guided Norsemen first to America. Humblebæk: Viking Compass.
Thirslund S. 1999. Viking Navigation. Viking Heritage Newsletter 4, 6-8.
Tomashevskyi A. P. 1998. Ovrutskyi kriazh: kompleksne vyvchennia ta zberezhennia istoryko-arkheolohichnoi paleopryrodnoi spadshchyny (zavdannia, perspektyvy, struktura proektu). Arkheolohiia 2, 151-155.
Tomashevskyi A. P. 2005. Doslidnytski prohramy i osoblyvosti Ovrutskoho proektu vyvchennia i zberezhennia spadshchyny serednovichnoi Ovrutskoi volosti. Naukovi zapysky z ukrainskoi istorii 16, 186-194. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09615768.2005.11427603
Veremeychyk O. M. 2008. Pirofillitovye pryaslicza iz selskikh poselenii Chernigovskogo Polesya. Naukovі zapiski z Ukrainskoi іstorіi 20, 339-375.
Veremeychyk O. M. 2013. Produktsiia ovrutskoi pirofilitovoi industrii na terenakh Chernihivskoho Polissia. Sivershchyna v istorii Ukrayiny 6, 95-99.
Yakubovskyi V. I. 2020. Bolokhirska zemlia XII-XIII st. Istoriia, materialna kultura, ekonomika. Kamianets-Podilskii.
Zoëga G. T. 1910. A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Sprawozdania Archeologiczne
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
