МАЭ № 6080-20

Female member of the Vyatichi tribe

1945-1947 (casting)

plaster

In 1940 A.V. Artsikhovsky excavated medieval mounds at Zvenigorod, Moscow Province. They date to the 11th and 12th centuries and are associated with one of the Eastern Slavic tribes – the Vyatichi. Vyatichi were a large tribal union inhabiting the upper and middle Oka basin. The town of Zvenigorod emerged in their land as a stronghold during Yuri Dolgorukiy’s rule. At that time, the Vyatichi were abandoning paganism and adopting Christianity, as evidenced by the change in burial rite: cremation was replaced by inhumation, and mounds were erected above the graves. Female burials were especially rich. The physical type of the woman whose cranium Gerasimov used for reconstruction was Caucasoid, displaying very regular features. The ornaments replicate those found in the grave.

Anthropological plastic reconstructions, lifetime masks. 19th - 20th centuries