and Velikaya. During the tenth century the settlement area expanded and consisted of
a fort, a trading centre and a cult site. In Pskov the Scandinavian finds come from the
cultural layer and graves (Sedov 1992 ; Duczko 2004 : 112 ). Five of eighty excavated
graves have Scandinavian traits. A rich chamber grave with the remains of a woman was
recently found in the town ( Jakovleva 2004 ).
The Volga–Oka regionAlong the Volga waterway, Scandinavian artefacts have been found in different cultural
contexts and different types of sites (Figure 38. 3 ). The earliest objects have been found
at Sarskoe Gorodishche near Lake Nero in the Upper Volga area (Leont’ev 1996 , 2000 ).
This hill fort was a local centre inhabited from the late seventh to the early eleventh
century. Islamic coins and also Scandinavian male and female artefacts give evidence
of long-distance connections in the ninth–tenth centuries (Leont’ev 1996 : 18 – 21 ;
Pushkina 1997 : 89 ).
A large concentration of such finds came to light in an area between the towns
Jaroslavl’ on the Volga and Vladimir on the River Kljaz’ma. About 12 km from
Jaroslavl’ city is the Timerëvo archaeological complex, which consists of a settlement of
about 5 – 6 ha and cemeteries (Murasheva 1997 ; Sedyh 2000 ). About 500 mounds with
cremations and inhumations including chamber graves have been excavated here, as well
as about fifty dwellings with roof-bearing posts, pits and other structures clustered
together and sometimes fenced. A large hoard of Islamic coins dated to 864 / 5 found in
the settlement and also oriental and Scandinavian objects from the graves indicate the
importance of international contacts in the activity of the Timerëvo population. It has
been suggested that three different ethnic groups lived here during the Viking Age but
now it seems that ‘the material culture does not indicate separate population groups,
but rather a community with people of different genetic origins but viewing themselves
as one community and most probably as one ethnic group’ ( Jansson 1997 : 42 ). There are
two different interpretations of the character of the Timerëvo settlement. According to
one it was an urban site (Dubov 1982 ). The other view is that Timerëvo was a rural
settlement (Fekhner 1963 : 17 ; Jansson 1997 : 44 ). A large number of barrows with
Scandinavian artefacts were also found at Mikhailovskoe and Petrovskoe in the Vladimir
area. These finds are interpreted either as evidence for centres of the Old Russian
population (Pushkina 1997 : 89 ) or as evidence of Scandinavian immigration ( Jansson
1997 : 47 ). Scandinavian weapons and jewellery have also been found at sites on the
Upper Volga, which suggests that these were centres to control the traffic along the
Volga way (Tomsinski 1999 : 171 ; Islanova et al. 2005 : 72 – 7 ).
Scandinavian penetration into the areas of the Volga Bulghars is reflected by a single
find of an equal-armed brooch and a sword found in the town of Bulgar. One bronze
scabbard chape decorated in the Jellinge style has been found in Biljar. Five more swords
and one shield-boss come from different places in an area between the rivers Kama and
Volga (Izmailov 1997 : 34 , 44 , 125 fig. 81 ). So far only one grave with clear Scandinavian
traits is known from this area. In a mound with a cremation grave containing a folded
sword, remains of a bag and bronze decorative mounts of local production and a strike-a-
light have been revealed at Balymer (Izmailov 1997 : 49 fig. 23 ). In the Lower Volga area
there is a single Scandinavian find, a bronze scabbard chape in Jellinge style from
Danilovka (Paulsen 1953 : 41 Abb. 39 ). Contacts of Scandinavians with the Slavic
–– chapter 38 : The Vikings in the east––