Medieval battle axes belonging to 11th century tax collectors unearthed in Russia

Such axes were popular during the 11th and 12th centuries, researchers say

Archaeologists in Russia unearthed two strange human skeletons in a medieval cemetery, buried along with battle axes and equestrian equipment.

The cemetery, dating to the 11th century, was originally discovered in 1851 in the town of Suzdal near Moscow and has since been a hotbed of buried jewellery, coins, and weapons.

In the latest excavation, archaeologists uncovered about 50 skeletons buried throughout the site, including the strange remains of a man in his late 30s. He was buried with artefacts that included a battle axe, a knife, a bronze belt buckle shaped like a lyre, and a broken ceramic vessel.

The axes had a semicircular notch at the base and a cut-out shoe.

Similar axes with these features, decorated with silver inlay, an arched body and a slot for the belt, were common in the steppes in the south of Eastern Europe, from Hungary to the Southern Urals between the 9th and 11th centuries, and from the 10th century came into use in Russia, scientists explained in a statement.

Researchers say this type of a medieval axe with a “small hammer” on one end and a notch at its base was popular during the 11th and 12th centuries.

“Axes of this type, originally associated with the nomadic environment, received a wide existence in Russia in the 10th and 11th centuries,” scientists wrote.

Another man in his late 20s was buried in a complex wooden structure “assembled without the use of iron nails” in a plot next to the skeleton.

Gnezdilovo burial ground. Clearing of burial 49. At the bottom of the grave pit, a battle axe, stirrups, a a fig and a castle are visible in the feet of the buried (Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

The second man was also buried with a similar battle axe, a lyre-shaped buckle, a lock, and a knife with the remnants of a sheath.

Equestrian equipment, including a buckle used to tighten a saddle, was also found at the second man’s burial, researchers said.

A set of weights that were likely used to weigh coins “collected as taxes” were also found.

The exact identities of the buried men remain unclear but archaeologists suspect they were of high status” and likely “performed fiscal functions”, like tax collection.

Gnezdilovo burial ground. Burial 59. Battle axe (Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

“Joint finds of weapons, scales and weights in men’s burials are convincingly interpreted as an indication of the ownership of these burials to persons who performed fiscal functions, which involved weighing coins collected as taxes,” researchers said.

“The unusual appearance of this burial is determined both by the size of the burial structure, which symbolized the high status of the deceased and by the presence of equestrian equipment,” they wrote.

Archaeologists say the rarity of such burials in ancient Russian burial grounds is linked to the Slavic pagan rite in which there is no presence of weapons in the graves.

Gnezdilovo burial ground. Burial 59. Clearing the battle axe (Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences)

The burials shed light on the rapid Christianisation of the Old Russian elite, according to researchers, who say the 11th century witnessed a significant part of this change.

The findings, according to researchers, also reveal the culture of the elite and shed light on the emergence of “peculiarities of the social structure of North-Eastern Russia”.