For many years it was believed that glass products
came to Russia solely through trade with other countries. For example, near
Kerch, jugs of Egyptian origin were found, which turned out to be more than
2500 years old.
But other things were discovered, suggesting that they
were not brought from afar, but were made here on the spot. In ancient Russian
tombs were beads and bracelets of a thousand years ago. In the Kuban, steppes
preserved glass goblets decorated with gold.
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| Ancient Russ Glassware |
In the Kharkiv region, they found decanters in the
form of a bell on a high stalk. In Kherson and Volhynia, archaeologists
unearthed glass beads, bracelets, rings that were used to be woven into girl’s
braids...
In the writings of a German learned monk named
Theophilus, who lived a thousand years ago, one can read a description of
various artistic crafts. Speaking about Kievan Rus, Theophilus admires the
ability of Russian masters to make very elegant little things decorated with
colored enamel. But enamel is also glass! If these stories are confirmed by
material evidence...
And so, in the spring of 1950 events unfolded, the
witnesses of which were the children of a school in Kyiv in Podil. It all
started with the arrival of young people armed with shovels. It soon became
clear that they were students of the archaeological institute. They were
looking for some antiquities.
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| Beads of Kyiv Rus |
And very soon the search, to the great joy of the
pupils who watched the process, was crowned with success. An old broken stove
was found, everywhere there were pieces of brick, clay.
“Now look here,” - said one archaeologist girl, taking
off a bag from her shoulder and spreading out its contents on a newspaper. The
guys looked at strange things being all eyes. These were colored beads, thick
bracelets of blue, purple, yellow and green colors.
“They are made of glass,” - the girl explained, - “and
they were the favorite adornment of Kyiv women.”
