Dyakovo Rattle-boxes in the Collection of the State Historical Museum: X-ray Tomography

A series of clay rattle-boxes attributed to the Dyakovo archaeological culture is kept in the Early Iron Age and Early Middle Ages Unit of the Archaeological Department in the State Historical Museum, Moscow. These items were discovered in Moscow and the Moscow region during the archaeological excavations carried out in the 19th–20th centuries and were never examined under a separate study. An X-ray tomography study of six Dyakovo rattle-boxes and two reference samples was performed by the Kurchatov Institute under the project aimed to study archaeological objects from the State Historical Museum collection. The study found that the most common Dyakovo rattle-boxes which were egg-shaped and had protrusions on the opposite sides were made of two parts, one of which was inserted into the other. These rattle-boxes are of small size and are made of one lump of the ceramic past closed in on one side. According to the earlier suggestions, balls or pebbles were placed inside the Dyakovo rattle-boxes. Clay balls were found only in one reference sample, whereas the examined Dyakovo rattle-boxes were filled with fragments of tempered ceramics and grus.