Archaeologists in the northwestern Russian city of Staraya Ladoga have discovered a rare heraldic pendant bearing the image of the "tridental emblem" of the Rurik dynasty, dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries AD.
Researchers believe the necklace served as an official badge for a high-ranking official in the prince's service, given its ceremonial nature and the way it was crafted. Mariana Pavlova, a researcher at the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented this discovery at the 40th Scientific Conference "Novgorod and the Novgorod Land."
The pendant bears a double-sided trident, a well-known symbol of the Rurik dynasty, which included such prominent princes as Vladimir the Great and Yaroslav the Wise. Archaeologists know of only eight similar pendants, making the Ladoga find extremely rare. Researchers classify these pieces into original pendants dating from the 10th and 11th centuries, and forgeries from the 12th and 13th centuries; the Ladoga pendant belongs to the original category.
Despite the signs of wear and tear, the pendant was well-preserved. Pavlova noted that the emblem is depicted in a "legal and ceremonial" style, underscoring its administrative significance, and that the wear indicates it has been in use for a long time.
Chemical analysis revealed that the pendant is composed of 49% lead, 24% tin, and 23% copper, with impurities of silver, arsenic, and zinc. Researchers hypothesize that it was cast from a copper alloy, and that the tin and lead plating enhanced its symbolic and prestigious value.
The necklace also resembles in shape a piece found in Veliky Novgorod in 1956, which may indicate the use of a single casting mold.
Staraya Ladoga is considered one of the oldest political centers in Russia, and its location on the trade route from Scandinavia to Greece played a pivotal role in consolidating princely power. Archaeological discoveries confirm that the city was a permanent administrative center, while the presence of official symbols such as these pendants indicates a structured system of control that later spread to Novgorod and Kyiv.
