Kolt

File:Klad desyatinnaya.jpg

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). Cloisonné enamel on Gold. 12th century.

File:Kolty Nizovka.jpg

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), also in West-Ukrainian dialects “колток”. 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.

External links

• a kolt in the collection of Kremlin Armory Chamber, Moscow
• a star-shaped kolt in the collection of Kremlin Armory Chamber, Moscow
• a circular kolt in the collection of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
• a circular silver kolt found in the Berestye archeological site, Belarus, featuring a seed with sprouts

• 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)