The green cylindrical beads from the Ulankovsky hoard are part of a woman’s jewelry set. They are dated to the 6th–7th centuries and belong to the Kolochin archaeological culture, whose bearers are considered by scholars to be early Slavs. In 2016, items from the hoard, discovered in the vicinity of the village of Ulanok, located near the town of Sudzha, were transferred to the collections of the Kursk Regional State Museum of Archaeology. The total number of items amounted to 3,880 items. The circumstances of the find and the precise location of the discovery of the complex have not been determined to this day.
A significant portion of the hoard consisted of bead necklaces, totaling 3,123 pieces. The majority — 1,721 items — were represented by dark green and opaque black glass beads, with some beads in dark red and golden colors as well.
Another treasure trove, discovered relatively close to Ulanok, the Gaponovo hoard, contains a collection of items related to clothing: buckles, plaques, neck torques, lunulas. It is much larger in volume and weight. The most numerous items from the hoard were artifacts made of an alloy of lead and tin in the form of plates, rectangular or trapezoidal in cross section, mostly about 12 centimeters long. Items made from lead-tin alloys included the following: large and small three-horned decorated lunulas, rectangular plaques with triangular loops, biconical and flat beads, large and small finials, five-part beads, and four-part necklace spacers.
Costume details included fragments of neck torques
with looped clasps, two whole and one fragment of temple rings with a single
spiral ending, bracelets made of round wire with flattened, expanded ends, and
a fragment of a bracelet with an expanded conical end. Additionally, there were
two-part plaques with a heraldic shield and figure-eight cross, two-part
plaques with a swallowtail end, small plaques in the shape of a heraldic shield
with two or three holes, labrys-shaped small belt plaques, two-part sub-rectangular
belt plaques with diamond-shaped cutouts, and other artifacts.
