Kulakov V.I.

Key words: hoard of objects, Northern Sambia, late-Viking times, Curonians and Old Prussians.
A hoard of silver objects has been discovered among the group of finds that until May 1945 were stored in the Museum of Prehistory and Early History (Berlin, Germany) and are now in the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin (Moscow, Russia). The inscription reads “Crantz, Kr. Fishhausen” (now Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad oblast). The hoard comprises a disc-shaped fibula, two bracelets with cut-through ornament and two cross-shaped fibulae soldered together. Most probably the hoard from Crantz was found in the winter/spring of 1892 when the rampart at Schwedendam and/or the site of Garbik were destroyed. From the wide chronological perspective, the date for the Crantz hoard correlates with the story in the Knytlinga saga about the Danish konung and the Novgorod princess whom he sought in marriage, and the Sambian who was acting as mediator. There are no direct indications that the adornments from the hoard were intended for the Russian princess. So far we can only state that the adornments found at Crantz, which were hidden in the earth in post-Viking times, show traditions from both Western and Eastern Europe.