CLAY SPINDLE WHORLS OF THE II TETYUSHY HILLFORT OF THE IMENKOVO CULTURE AND THEIR ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Authors:   Kazan State Institute of Culture, K. Rudenko 
Published: May 2023

The article deals with clay spindle whorls, special weights for spindles, necessary for spinning threads from various materials — wool, vegetable fibers (nettle, flax). They were found at the Tetyushy-II hillfort of the Imenkovo culture, in the Republic of Tatarstan. The hillfort was studied by K.A. Rudenko in 2007–2013. It differs from many other sites of the Imenkovo culture in its clear stratigraphy with dated layers. A total of 186 spindle whorls were found. This is currently one of the most representative collections of these artifacts from archaeological excavations at the settlements of the Imenkovo culture in the Kazan Volga region. According to the complex of features, 6 types of spindle whorls were distinguished. The typology is based on the shape of the product. Three types of these products, the shape of which is truncated-biconical, are the most common in the Imenkovo settlements. They differ in their sizes: small (diameter up to 2.6 cm), medium (diameter up to 3.5 cm) and large (diameter up to 5 cm). The objectivity of such a grouping is also confirmed by the weight parameters of these sections: small — up to 7 g, medium — up to 11 g, and large — up to 25 g. The dependence of the weight of the spindle whorls on the diameter of the channel through which it was put on the spindle whorls was revealed. At Tetyushy-II fortified hillfort, fragments of spindle whorls make up 33.8% of their total number and most often they are found in the lower horizon of the III — upper horizon of the IV layer, which were formed at the end of the 6th — the first half of the 7th century. There are few spindle whorls decorated with ornaments — 16% of the total. The most frequently decorated with ornaments (dots, crests, etc.) were medium-sized spindle whorls. Based on the materials of the Tetyushy-II hillfort and finds from the Imenkovo settlements located in the lower reaches of the Kama: Shcherbet’-I (island), the settlement, the settlements of “Kurgan” and “Devichiy Gorodok” and a number of others in the amount of 375 copies, methods for making Imenkovo spindle whorls. These products were made in 4 ways: from a blank in the form of a finished product; from a cylindrical billet with further sculptural refinement; from a ring blank with sculptural refinement; of three bundles, by winding onto a rod. For the first method, master models were probably used. Clay with an admixture of sand, sometimes fine chamotte and organic matter, and in some cases crushed shells of river mollusk shells was used for the manufacture of spindle whorls. It was found that in most cases the spinners were associated with buildings and were used in household crafts (spinning). Since the weight of the spindle whorls is small, then, apparently, several of them were put on the spindle, depending on the raw material for spinning. Thus, according to the materials of the Tetyushy-II hillfort, the systematization of the Imenkovo culture was carried out, for the first time methods of manufacturing were identified, the most characteristic types of these products for the 6th–7th centuries in the Kazan Volga region were determined.