Christian calendar

Russians

Arkhangelsk province, Kem district

Late 18th century – early 19th century

Wood

РЭМ 2239-5

It is a four-sided stick, all faces of which are divided by a slit into three parts according to the number of months, with notches made on each part to symbolize the days in a month. The faces have several carved symbols such as various crosses, graphic characters, figures, Cyrillic letters, and pictographs marking holidays important for peasants and other information. A square projection is provided on one end of the calendar, with a hole intended for suspending the calendar on a belt when the Pomors set out for hunting or fishing or for a long journey, or for attaching the calendar to a wall indoors. Carved on the sides of the square protrusion are notches – one, two, three, and four, respectively. They help to figure out the order of arrangement of months on the calendar’s faces. Abstract by O.G. Baranova