Gnezdovo or Gnyozdovo is an archeological site located near the village of Gnyozdovo

Gnyozdovo

Gnyozdovo is a village in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Dnieper River twelve kilometers downstream from Smolensk, in the proximity of Katyn...

 in Smolensk Oblast

Smolensk Oblast

Smolensk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its area is . Population: -Geography:The administrative center of Smolensk Oblast is the city of Smolensk. Other ancient towns include Vyazma and Dorogobuzh....

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. The site contains extensive remains of a Slavic-Varangian settlement that flourished in the 10th century as a major trade station on the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks

Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks

The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks was a trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Byzantine Empire. The route allowed traders along the route to establish a direct prosperous trade with Byzantium, and prompted some of them to settle in the territories of...

.

Site

The archaeological site comprises a "citadel" (gorodishche) , formerly situated at the confluence

Confluence (geography)

In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where two streams flow together, merging into a single stream...

 of the Dnieper

Dnieper River

The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...

 and Svinets Rivers, and a ring of ancient rural settlements (selitba) which occupy an area of 17.5 hectares, of which roughly 5000 square metres (53,819.6 sq ft) had been excavated by the end of the 20th century. This makes the site one of the largest survivals of the Viking Age

Viking Age

Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...

 in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

: only Hedeby

Hedeby

Hedeby |heath]]land, and býr = yard, thus "heath yard"), mentioned by Alfred the Great as aet Haethe , in German Haddeby and Haithabu, a modern spelling of the runic Heiðabý was an important trading settlement in the Danish-northern German borderland during the Viking Age...

 covered a larger territory (24 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s), with the sites of Birka

Birka

During the Viking Age, Birka , on the island of Björkö in Sweden, was an important trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers west of contemporary Stockholm, in the municipality of Ekerö...

 (13 hectares), Dublin (12 hectares), Ribe

Ribe

Ribe , the oldest extant Danish town, is in southwest Jutland and has a population of 8,192 . Until 1 January 2007, it was the seat of both the surrounding municipality, and county...

 (10 hectares), and Gdańsk

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

 (1 hectare) trailing behind. There are about 3,000 burial mounds, arranged in eight clusters of kurgan

Kurgan

Kurgan is the Turkic term for a tumulus; mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves, originating with its use in Soviet archaeology, now widely used for tumuli in the context of Eastern European and Central Asian archaeology....

s. Of these, about 1,300 mounds have been explored by Russian and Soviet archaeologists, starting in 1874.

There is some disagreement among scholars as to which ethnic element predominated at Gnyozdovo. Although a Varangian presence is pronounced, nineteen mounds out of twenty contain ordinary burials of Krivich

Krivich

The Krivichi was one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 12th centuries. They migrated to the mostly Finnic areas in the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, Western Dvina, areas south of the lower reaches of river Velikaya and parts of the Neman basin.-Etymology:Many...

 and Baltic men and women. The burial rite is mostly cremation

Cremation

Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....

. The most numerous finds are household utensils and pottery. As a general observation, the Gnyozdovo tumuli have parallels with the "druzhina

Druzhina

Druzhina, Drużyna or Družyna in the medieval history of Slavic Europe was a retinue in service of a chieftain, also called knyaz. The name is derived from the Slavic word drug with the meaning of "companion, friend". -Early Rus:...

 kurgans" of Chernigov, such as the Black Grave

Black Grave

The Black Grave is the largest burial mound in Chernihiv, Ukraine. It is part of the National Sanctuary Chernihiv Ancient and is the Monument of Archeology of national importance.-Description:...

.

Finds

Seven hoards of Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 and Arabian coins and a Byzantine dish bearing an image of Simargl

Simargl

Semargl or Simargl is a deity or mythical creature in East Slavic mythology. An idol of Semargl was present in the pantheon of Great Prince Vladimir I of Kiev. It may be the equivalent of Simurgh in Persian mythology who is also represented like a griffin with a dog body...

 have shown that the local community carried on a prosperous trade along the Dnieper. The metal objects represented include hauberk

Hauberk

A hauberk is a shirt of chainmail. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergeon generally refers to a shorter variant with partial sleeves, but the terms are often used interchangeably.- History :The word hauberk is derived from the...

s (not typical for Scandinavian sites), helmets, battle-axes, Carolingian swords, and arrows. Among the more surprising discoveries were an early folding razor

Razor

A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of unwanted body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, disposable razors and electric razors....

 with a copper handle and a pivoted scissors

Scissors

Scissors are hand-operated cutting instruments. They consist of a pair of metal blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting various thin materials, such as paper, cardboard, metal foil, thin...

, probably the earliest found in Eastern Europe.

The most unexpected discovery at Gnyozdovo was a Kerch

Kerch

Kerch is a city on the Kerch Peninsula of eastern Crimea, an important industrial, transport and tourist centre of Ukraine. Kerch, founded 2600 years ago, is considered as one of the most ancient cities in Ukraine.-Ancient times:...

 amphora with the earliest inscription attested in the Old Russian language. The excavator has inferred that the word горушна (gorušna), inscribed on the pot in Cyrillic letters, designates mustard

Mustard (condiment)

Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...

 that was kept there. This explanation has not been universally accepted and the inscription seems to be open to different interpretations. The dating of the inscription to the mid-10th century suggests a hitherto unsuspected popularity of the Cyrillic script

Pre-Cyrillic Slavic writing

There is some evidence that the early Slavs may have used a writing system or a form of proto-writing prior to the introduction of Christianity and of the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets in the mid 9th century...

 in pre-Christian Rus.

Historical background

As Tatiana Jackson has observed, Norse saga

Norse saga

The sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families...

s contain more detailed information about the Western Dvina (Norse: Dyna) than about any other river of Eastern Europe. This fact highlights a great importance attached to the Dvina trade route by the Vikings.

Gnyozdovo is situated downstream from the Dvina–Dnieper portage

Portage

Portage or portaging refers to the practice of carrying watercraft or cargo over land to avoid river obstacles, or between two bodies of water. A place where this carrying occurs is also called a portage; a person doing the carrying is called a porter.The English word portage is derived from the...

s, at a point where the Svinets and several small waterways empty into the Dnieper. Like Smolensk at a later period, Gnyozdovo flourished through trade along the Dnieper going south to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 and north over portages to the Dvina and the Lovat

Lovat River

The Lovat River is a river in Belarus and Russia. It flows out of Lovatets Lake in northwestern Belarus, and flows north through Pskov and Novgorod Oblasts of Russia into Lake Ilmen. Its main tributaries are the Kunya, Polist, Redya, and Robya Rivers....

, two rivers flowing to the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. At the time of its establishment, the local citadel served a defensive function against possible attacks on the portages, where the Norse traders would be at their most vulnerable. After internal tensions within Kievan Rus settled down, the site of Gnyozdovo "formed the critical exchange centre and refitting base on the route from the Baltic to the Black Sea".

The settlement declined in the early years of the 11th century, simultaneously with other Varangian trade stations in Eastern Europe. By the end of the century, Gnyozdovo's importance as a trade centre had been completely supplanted by nearby Smolensk.

Gnyozdovo and Smolensk

Scholars are not in agreement as to how Gnyozdovo is related to Smolensk (Norse: Smaleskja), situated at the confluence of the Dnieper and the Smolnya Rivers.

According to one point of view, Gnyozdovo was the functional and economic predecessor of modern Smolensk. Soviet archaeologists established that the earliest settlement on the site of Smolensk goes back to the early 11th century. In other words, the emergence of Smolensk coincides with the decline of Gnyozdovo. The regional centre could have been moved from Gnyozdovo to Smolensk at some point following the Christianisation of Rus by Vladimir the Great.

Another school of thought is represented by Petrukhin and Pushkina who maintain that Smolensk and Gnyozdovo peacefully coexisted throughout the 10th century. According to this version, Gnyozdovo was a pogost

Pogost

Pogost is a historical term with several meanings in the Russian language. It has also been borrowed into Latvian and Finnish , with specific meanings....

 of the ruling Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

an monarch which he used to levy tribute from the Krivichs. Since the knyaz

Knyaz

Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....

's druzhina

Druzhina

Druzhina, Drużyna or Družyna in the medieval history of Slavic Europe was a retinue in service of a chieftain, also called knyaz. The name is derived from the Slavic word drug with the meaning of "companion, friend". -Early Rus:...

 was composed primarily of the Norsemen, a substantial Varangian presence at Gnyozdovo seems to be well motivated. Concurrently, Smolensk was an urban centre of the Slavic (Krivich) population, where the regional veche

Veche

Veche was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries.In Novgorod, where the veche acquired the greatest prominence, the veche was broadly similar to the Norse thing or the Swiss Landsgemeinde.-Etymology:...

 was held. After Vladimir the Great established a local principality for his son, the administrative centre of the region and the seat of princely power was moved from Gnyozdovo to Smyadyn Castle near Smolensk.

The dichotomy

Dichotomy

A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into two parts...

 of a Slavic veche

Veche

Veche was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries.In Novgorod, where the veche acquired the greatest prominence, the veche was broadly similar to the Norse thing or the Swiss Landsgemeinde.-Etymology:...

 centre and a Varangian druzhina

Druzhina

Druzhina, Drużyna or Družyna in the medieval history of Slavic Europe was a retinue in service of a chieftain, also called knyaz. The name is derived from the Slavic word drug with the meaning of "companion, friend". -Early Rus:...

 station has parallels in other areas of Rus: compare Novgorod and Holmsgard, Chernigov and Shestovitsa, Rostov

Rostov

Rostov is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population:...

 and Sarskoye Gorodishche

Sarskoye Gorodishche

Sarskoye Gorodishche or Sarsky fort was a medieval fortified settlement in the Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia. It was situated on the bank of the Sara River, a short distance from Lake Nero, to the south of modern Rostov, of which it seems to have been the early medieval predecessor.- Exploration :The...

, Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...

 and Timeryovo. In later centuries, the ruling princes from the House of Rurik preferred to settle in a fortified castle at a distance from their capital: in Vyshgorod

Vyshgorod

Vyshgorod may refer to:*Vyshhorod a residence of the medieval Kievan rulers, now a town in Kiev Oblast, Ukraine*Vyshgorod, Russia, a village in Ryazan Oblast, Russia...

 rather than Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

, in Smyadyn rather than Smolensk, in Kideksha

Kideksha

Kideksha is a village in Suzdalsky District of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kamenka and Nerl Rivers, east of Suzdal....

 rather than Suzdal

Suzdal

Suzdal is a town in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, situated northeast of Moscow, from the city of Vladimir, on the Kamenka River. Population: -History:...

, in Bogolyubovo

Bogolyubovo

Bogolyubovo is an urban-type settlement in Suzdalsky District, Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located some north-east of Vladimir. Population: 3,900 .Bogolyubovo was once the residence of the Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky...

 rather than Vladimir

Vladimir

Vladimir is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, to the east of Moscow along the M7 motorway. Population:...

.

Nomenclature

The place-name Gnyozdovo seems to be a late medieval derivation from the Slavic word for "nest". It is first recorded in the 17th-century documents. Historians disagree as to what was the earlier name of the settlement. Those who view Gnyozdovo as the antecedent of Smolensk, believe that the name of Smolensk originally applied to Gnyozdovo. According to them, Constantine VII

Constantine VII

Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959...

 referred to the site of Gnyozdovo when he mentioned the fortress of Smolensk in De Administrando Imperio

De Administrando Imperio

De Administrando Imperio is the Latin title of a Greek work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is...

. The Primary Chronicle

Primary Chronicle

The Primary Chronicle , Ruthenian Primary Chronicle or Russian Primary Chronicle, is a history of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110, originally compiled in Kiev about 1113.- Three editions :...

records Smolensk even earlier, in connection with Askold and Dir

Askold and Dir

Askold and Dir are semi-legendary rulers of Kiev who, according to the Primary Chronicle, were two of Rurik's voivodes in 870s...

's raid against Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 in 867.

Vasmer and other etymologists derive the name of Smolensk from the Smolnya River. If so, the original Slavic name for Gnyozdovo must have been different. Tatiana Jackson theorizes that it may have been derived from the name of the Svinets River, reconstructing it as Svinechsk (Свинеческъ). As the name of the river seems to be related to the Russian word for "swine" and ancient Gnyozdovo was situated on a promontory, Jackson identified this settlement with Sýrnes ("swine promontory" in Old Norse), one of seven or eight cities of Gardariki listed in the Norse geographical treatise of Hauksbók

Hauksbók

The Hauksbók is one of the few medieval Norse manuscripts of which the author is known. His name was Haukr Erlendsson , and as long back as it is possible to trace the manuscript it has been called the Hauksbók after its author. It was partly written by Haukr himself, partly by assistants...

.