Medieval Russia Horseshoe-shaped Fibulae Featuring Masks.

The paper reviews one of the categories of Medieval Russia finds, i.e. fibulae featuring human or animal face design or ‘mask’. We single out two groups dating to the 11th century, and provide evidence that they are derivatives of Scandinavian fibulae of the 10th century. The accepted view that interprets the discussed images as owl is rejected. Instead, we provide arguments for the idea that the ‘masks’ represent schematic anthropomorphic images of males. The analysis of this category of finds has lead us to the conclusion that these images demonstrate development of Scandinavian traditions in the material culture of Medieval Russia.