A pair of kolts featuring two birds flanking the tree of life and a
ryasna, a chain of medallions, found in 1842 in or near the
Church of the Tithes in
Kiev).
Cloisonnéenamel on Gold. 12th century.Kolts found in Nizovka,
Chernihiv Oblast. 12th century.
Kolt or kolty was a part of a female
headgear, hanging on a
ryasna at both
temples as a sign of family's wealth, common in 11th-13th centuries in Old
Rus'. It comprised a pair of metal pieces, joined to form a hollow
medallion or star that, presumably, contained a piece of
cloth, impregnated with
fragrances.
Origin
The origin of the word “kolt” is obscure. As a term, it was introduced in the late 19th century in the course of
ethnographic surveys. According to a version it derived from the
Ukrainian: ковтки, meaning '
earrings',[1] also in West-Ukrainian dialects “колток”.[2] In a Novgorod dialect the word “колтки” means pendants of earrings, it was also mentioned in
birch bark document No. 644, found in
Novgorod, dating back to
Novgorod Republic.
References
^Б. Д. Гринченко. Словарь украинского языка, К., 1908, т. 2, с. 262 (in Russian)
^А. А. Зализняк. Древненовгородский диалект. М., 2004, с. 268 (in Russian)
Further reading
Pekarskaja, Ljudmila V. (1997). Treasures from Ancient Kiev in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Dumbarton Oaks. Vol. 32 (Metropolitan Museum Journal ed.). New York. pp. 65–75.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
Жилина, Н. В. (1997). Древнерусские звездчатые колты (схема развития) (in Russian) (Научные чтения памяти В. М. Василенко ed.). Moscow. pp. 140–150.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
Ляусік Н.А. (2003).
Ціснёныя колты са збораў ГДГАМ (in Belarusian) (Краязнаўчыя запіскі. Вып. 6 ed.). Grodno. pp. 3–5. Archived from
the original on 2013-12-05.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)