The “KORYVANTES” Association of Historical Studies, by accepting the kind invitation of the Ukrainian Traditional Archery Federation, participated successfully with a 4-member team in the International Traditional Archery Festival named “The Arrow of Ancient Kiev” on 4th to 6th October 2013. The event took place in the reconstructed Medieval Living History Castle “The Kievan Rus Park” in the vicinity of Kiev, 34 km from the city.
The Kievan Rus Park” was created with aim to reconstruct a Slavonic fortified settlement (Kremlin) of the period between the 5th to 8th centuries A.D. with respect to historical authenticity. The general atmosphere reminds you of medieval Russia.
The Festival "Arrow of the Ancient Kiev", is on the second year of its successful operations aiming to continue being an important Traditional Archery institution in the wider area of northern Europe. Many countries like Hungary, Turkey, Romania, Russia Poland etc. honored the festival with their participation. The contestants competed wearing the national costumes of their respective countries covering a period from the Iron Age to Late Medieval Era.
For once more our team’s participation in the contest was a chance to promote research in Experimental Archaeology. “KORYVANTES” for once more honored Hellenic History and Archery Tradition testing reconstructed armors in temperatures between 5-10 centigrade proving that the writings of Xenophon in his “Anabasis” are not fantasy tales. Naturally our members did not fought like the “10.000” but we had a chance to test human body reaction while wearing reconstructed ancient armor in low temperature conditions.
The image of the Greek archer was not unknown in the land of Ukraine. In the south of the counter existed the Greek colony of Boristhenis, where a plaque found there testifies to the first recorded long distance archery contest in which Anaxagoras from Olvia shot an arrow to a distance of 500 meters.
The competitive event of the festival was divided in two-day activities. On the first day the athletes competed on individual level. The contests included shooting on rotating targets from 20 m. Shooting on a target at 90 m. There was also a contest where the archers shot at target imitating medieval warriors with in a specific time frame. On the second day the athletes competed in team level. The contest included among others shooting at targets located on a moving wagon from a distance 30 m.
With only 8 months training and under a series of difficulties because of extreme weather conditions and the weight of our heavy armor our athletes managed to attain good places in the final placement thanks to their experience. This participation of our Association was the forth in the year 2013 after the successful participations at Istanbul (15 -16 June 2013) , Amasya (June 22 -23 2013) and Biga (8 - 9 September 2013)
The “KORYVANTES” Association of Historical Studies wants to thank Mr. Yuriy Trofimov and the Ukrainian Archer Friends for their hospitality and cooperation, renewing our date for the future in order to cooperate in the levels of Traditional Archery an experimental Archaeology.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου