THE PHENOMENON OF MEDIEVAL “EASTER EGGS”: TYPES OF ARTIFACTS, PROBABLE WAYS OF THEIR DISTRIBUTION AND FUNCTIONS (BASED ON FINDS FROM THE TERRITORY OF BELARUS IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT)
THE PHENOMENON OF MEDIEVAL “EASTER EGGS”: TYPES OF ARTIFACTS, PROBABLE WAYS OF THEIR DISTRIBUTION AND FUNCTIONS (BASED ON FINDS FROM THE TERRITORY OF BELARUS IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT)

Summary/Abstract: The paper is devoted to such type of artifacts as “Easter eggs”, also known in the scientificliterature as egg-shaped rattles or pisanki. The study considers such problems as the provenance of theseartifacts and their function and meaning. In addition to glazed ceramic egg-shaped rattles, imitation eggsmade of other materials are considered as part of the same phenomenon. The artifacts from the territoryof Belarus were mostly found in towns and do not have a specific context. The majority of the finds datesback to a later period in comparison with the neighboring territories of Old Rus’. The distribution andoccurrence of egg-shaped objects in towns and villages corresponded to the period of active spread ofChristianity and church building, which indicates that it will be more appropriate to consider these findsin the context of Christianity.

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