# Context

The items presented in this article originate from the collection of Evgeniy Gredunov, and are likely "Black Finds" - discoveries by illegal diggers with the intent to sell. As such, the archaeological context is unfortunately lost.

According to Gredunov, the finds are from a Golden Horde burial, discovered on the slopes of a ravine in a forest of the Pechenezhsky District, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. 

The stirrup discovered in the grave allows for a rather precise dating, thanks to the typology of G. A. Fedorov-Davidov; a quasi-perfect analogy was found in a grave in which coins from the 1350s also remained (Dated to the reign of Khan Jani Beg). The sabre is broadly 14-15th century, and Kuleshov dates the helmet to 1410-1425. This gives a general dating to the early 15th century. 

# Description

The burial contained a silver torc, chain mail, a helmet, a sabre with preserved iron scabbard fittings, and a single stirrup. 

**The sabre** presents a smooth curvature throughout the length of the blade. The handle is slightly curved toward the edge, and the crossguard is asymmetrical, with the edge arm longer than the back arm, a feature known in other Golden Horde sabres. 

Specifications:  
\- total length: 104cm  
\- handle length: 10cm  
\- false edge length: 17cm  
\- blade width: 3.6cm at the root, 4.2cm at the middle, 3.2cm before the false edge  
\- width of the blade: 1.1cm (which is enormous. It might be an error, because I believe the weight would be higher.)  
\- total weight: 0.99kg

The sides of the blade are engraved on a cartridge near the back, approximately 1cm wide. Unfortunately, the engraving could not be deciphered at the time. 

**The pommel** (picture 1, 4) is oval, with two strips that extend toward the handle, through which a rivet goes, securing it to the handle. The pommel still has a ring attached. Supposedly, it was used to attach a lanyard. 

**The scabbard suspension fittings** (picture 1, 6) are of the shouldered type, although the lower one has lost its shoulders. The shoulders are secured to the loop by a pin, bent in a loop shape on one side: this is the loop through which the belt would be fastened. 

**The scabbard chape** (picture 1, 7) is made of a single piece, of which the bottom has been forge-welded. It is rather simple in shape. 

**The crossguard** (picture 1, 5) is an asymmetrical diamond shape, 11cm wide.

The sabre, and the grave overall, is extremely similar to [the burial from Burty](https://www.reddit.com/r/MedievalRus/comments/1qgm58z/the_kurgan_from_burty_ukraine_an_understudied/), which we already covered (and which is probably my favourite grave due to how complete and complex it is). 

**The helmet** is 16.5cm high, 23x21.7cm in diameter, and weighs 1.13kg. It is made of a single sheet of steel, rolled and forge-welded unto itself. The weld, located over the right temple, was then polished. 

The thickness of the helmet, along the bottom edge, is 2.3 to 3.2mm (Kuleshov writes cm - I believe this is a typo).

There is a 3mm hole at the top of the helmet, and 3 other holes above the nose, the 2 lateral ones are plugged. All around the helmet, on the outer part of the edge, as well as in the two holes above the eyes, there are loops made of a golden metal alloy: they look very similar to Western European [Vervelles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vervelles). The vervelles around the helmet are 0.7cm in outer diameter, while the ones above the eyes are 1cm in diameter. The use of vervelles on a Golden Horde helmet is surprising, and could be a trace of the use of Western European technology, maybe by a Western European armoursmith. 

There are very visible cutouts for the eyes in the helmet. Kuleshov theorizes that the aventail was suspended everywhere around the helmet, excluding in front of the eyes.

# Conclusion

This burial, for which the context was lost, is interesting as it provides a rare(r) example of 15th-century nomadic equipment: at that point in time, nomadic presence in the Eastern European steppes is decreasing in favour of the Rus. 

The helmet, with the well known occular cutouts, also presents characteristics that are atypical, the vervelles obviously, but also the use of forge-welding, which is overall rarely observed in EE. It's also a direct confirmation that mail was sometimes directly attached between the eyes, something we have few confirmation of. 

Late nomadic burial from the Pechenezhsky District - Early 15th century Ukraine