Dynamics of development of rural blacksmith craft in Rus

Abstract

It is impossible to obtain a full-fledged description of the industrial culture of Rus without studying the role of rural handicrafts. The research on the vector of development of rural blacksmith craft is of great interest, in particular, the extent to which this vector reflects the dynamics of urban craft. It was established that rural craftsmen did not only supply raw materials to urban craft centres and produce technologically simple products, but also embraced technological innovations. The accumulated analytical data made it possible to suggest the coinciding dynamics of the development of urban and rural handicrafts. The authors conducted a comparative analysis for such a category of objects as knives, which is one of the most numerous groups of iron tools. The article shows a complex picture of the chronological distribution of technological patterns for making knives on rural sites. It is concluded that the rural blacksmith craft in Rus was in constant development.