»Druzhina« graves dating to the time around AD 1000 from Pìdgìrcì (western Ukraine)

Abstract

In 1881-1882, the Cracow archaeologist T. Ziemieçki excavated two double graves covered by burial mounds in the cemetery of the extensive hillfort and settlement complex at Pìdgìrcì (Polish Podhorce) in western Ukraine. Each double grave contained the burial of a man and a woman, with abundant grave-goods that are now being reanalysed. Two swords, Petersen’s Type S and Type V, are discussed here and compared with similar finds. The burials seem to be those of members of the princely retinue (druzhina) around 1000, at the time when the south western border area of Kievan Rus’ was being converted to the Christian religion. The Polish-Old Russian frontier between the Bug and Vistula rivers presumably took shape at this time and not only formed the boundary between the territories of the Piasts and Rurikids and their successors but also between Latin and Byzantine (Orthodox) Christianity.