The Black Grave ( uk, Чорна Могила , translit=Chorna mohyla) is the largest burial mound (

kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asi ...

) in

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. It is part of the National Sanctuary of

Ancient Chernihiv Ancient Chernihiv ( uk, Чернігів стародавній, translit=Chernihiv starodavniy) is the National Architecture-Historical Sanctuary located in the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. It was created at first as an affiliate of ...

and is an Archaeological Monument of national importance.

Overview

Comparable to the barrows of

Gnyozdovo Gnyozdovo (russian: Гнёздово) is a village in Smolensky District, Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Dnieper River twelve kilometers downstream from Smolensk, in the proximity of Katyn. The village is noted for its e ...

near

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...

, the Black Grave has a height of over 10 metres and a circumference of 170 metres. During excavations undertaken in 1872–73,

Dmitry Samokvasov Dmitry Yakovlevich Samokvasov (russian: Дмитрий Яковлевич Самоквасов; 1843 — 1911) was a Russian archaeologist and legal historian who excavated the Black Grave in Chernigov and several other sites important for the hi ...

uncovered two cremated bodies of Norse warriors (probably father and son), surrounded by slaves, sacrificial animals, arms, armour, and decorations. Samokvasov dated the burial to the late 10th century, when

Vladimir I Vladimir I may refer to: * Vladimir I of Kiev Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimi ...

was the ruler of

Kievan Rus Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

. It is likely that the buried warriors were two princes (

knyaz , or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...

es) of Chernihiv, although no local potentate is attested in the Slavonic chronicles before Vladimir's son, Mstislav of Chernihiv. After the bodies were cremated, they were put upon a 7-metre-high mound, where a funeral feast took place. Arranged near the bodies were two helmets and knee-length chain mail (

hauberk A hauberk or byrnie is a shirt of mail. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergeon ("little hauberk") generally refers to the quilted undergarment used with a hauberk, but the terms ...

s), probably extracted from the pyre, as well as a cauldron with ram bones, two sacerdotal knives, two golden Byzantine coins, an imported

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

, a miniature dark-red bronze idol of

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

, and two silver-bound

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocen ...

horns decorated with floral motifs, fabulous animals, and figures of a man and a woman shooting at a bird. When the barrow was completed, a

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

was placed at the top. All these items are now displayed at the

State Historical Museum The State Historical Museum ( Russian: Государственный исторический музей, ''Gosudarstvenny istoricheskiy muzyey'') of Russia is a museum of Russian history The history of Russia begins with the histories of ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. At the present time the site of the burial mound along with other 34 buildings (mostly churches) are included in the Chernihiv National Architecture-Historical Sanctuary "

". The Black Grave along with the rest of the reserve is the major tourist attraction in the

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast ( uk, Черні́гівська о́бласть, translit=Chernihivska oblast; also referred to as Chernihivshchyna, uk, Черні́гівщина, translit=Chernihivshchyna) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. T ...

(

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

) of

. File:Чернігів Курган Чорна Могила Панорамний вид Квітень 2016.jpg, File:NSH Chernigiv Kurgan Chorna Mogyla 001.JPG, File:Sword handles Black Grave GIM Zlatnik.jpg, File:Kutepov's hunting V.1 - page 049 detail.jpg

References

Bibliography

*Dmitry Samokvasov. Могилы русской земли. Moscow, 1908. *

Boris Rybakov Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov (Russian language, Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в, 3 June 1908, Moscow – 27 December 2001) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian historian who personified the anti-Normanist the ...

. Древности Чернигова. // Материалы и исследования по археологии СССР, №11, Moscow-Leningrad, 1949. *T.A. Pushkina. Бронзовый идол из Черной могилы. // Вестник Московского университета. Серия 8. История, №3, 1984.

External links

Archeological site – Black grave (Ukr.)

Tourist information: Black Grave (Ukr.)

* ttp://www.oko.kiev.ua/SearchReestrsResult.jsp List of monuments of cultural heritage in Chernihiv Region (Chernihiv District) {{Gardariki Tourist attractions in Chernihiv Buildings and structures in Chernihiv Viking buildings and structures Kievan Rus' Archaeological sites in Ukraine Kurgans Germanic archaeological sites Historic sites in Ukraine Landmarks in Chernihiv Oblast Protected areas of Ukraine Ship burials Tourist attractions in Chernihiv Oblast