Valentyrova K. Perception of bladed weapon in the European medieval culture (11th 13th centuries).

The research is devoted to the perception of bladed weapons in the culture of Medieval Europe (XI XIII centuries). The paper raises the problem of improving the methodology of analysis and int erpretation of archaeological sources. Modern scientific methods and approaches allow us to obtain a significant amount of information about the past through the study of artifacts. Nonetheless, the relationship between the perception of the subject of stu dy by his contemporaries and the scientist` vision still remains an unexplored issue. The idea of the uniqueness of historical worldviews actualizes this issue and emphasizes that it should be given due attention. Material culture was created and modified under the influence of ideas formed within a specific information field. Therefore, in order to adequately and scientifically substantiate the reconstruction of episodes of the past, it is necessary to interpret matherial culture taking into account the pe culiarities of the mentioned field. The method of perceptual analysis proposed in this research is to compare the data obtained from the study of artifacts, and perceptual images that correspond to them in the relevant cultural environment. Perceptual imag e we mean the perception of the subject by contemporaries in a broad sense. The closest to this concept is the category of "imaginary", formulated by J. Le Goff. However, at this stage of the work we have to some extent abstracted from the problem of deter mining and delimiting the levels of perception and focusing on the analysis of all possible associations and reflections, which are somehow reflected in the sources. The research describes the concept of historical perception, and proves the need to study this phenomenon utlines in the context of working with the material culture of the past.