Bone Carving of the Kamianka Sich

Abstract

The manufacture of different bone items as well as treatment of bone and horn used to be among the oldest types of crafts. For centuries, people have used bone because of its prevalence and easy processing. In the 16th—18th centuries, bone continued to be used as one of the materials, but it did not receive wide distribution among Cossack crafts. Though the well-known bone powder flasks decorated with complex and intricate carvings were in usage among Cossacks, the article deals with simpler and more common in everyday life things — such as knife handle bone plates, borers, a spindle whorl, and etc. Today we have the opportunity to explore this specific type of craft on the example of archaeological finds from one of the Zaporizhzhia Siches — the Kamianka Sich. Mass osteological material in many cases contains traces of deliberate processing or attempts to give the bone a certain shape, to obtain a product from bone or horn. Analyzing the finds of several archaeological seasons, one can deduce some common features of bone items, get an idea of spreading of this craft and its significance, and discover the everyday life of the Cossacks at the beginning of the 18th century. The article examines bone finds made from the beginning of the 1970-ies, and also contains their general characteristic and common features. A special attention is focused on bone products; the "portion" types of bones and the production waste left during manufacture of the bone items is briefly described. One of the main purpose of this article is to introduce into a scientific circulation a number of objects made of bone, on the same territory in a fairly short period of existence of the Kamianka Sich (1709—1711 and 1728—1734). Nowadays, unfortunately, we cannot derive a comparative analysis of the finds of bone production from other Siches or Cossack handicraft objects, but we can get an idea of the development of this type of craft using as examples the finds from the Kamianka Sich. Further archaeological research may reveal the presence of the bone carving workshop on this territory.