Musicology Annotation << Back Skripitsa in Slavic musical instrumental culture of the XV–XVII centuries Ustugova Alexandra V. The article is devoted to the study of the Slavic string instrument the skripicza. The questions of the construction of the skripicza and the peculiarities of the game on it still present a poorly studied and highly debatable topic. The history of the skripicza is reconstructed on the basis of Old Polish, Old Belarusian and Old Russian written sources of the XV–XVII centuries in comparison with the museum exhibits of stringed instruments and archaeological materials. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the skripicza is one of the earliest Slavic stringed instruments of violin appearance, known since the 15th century. The article attempts to recreate the appearance of the skripicza, its structure, play style, and living conditions. A hypothesis has been expressed about the existence of several tessitura types of skripicza. The formation of skripicza playing took place in folk environment in the interaction of Slavic instrumental traditions. The geography of the historical distribution of the skripicza is determined by the borders of the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Moscow State. Until now, in the musical vocabulary and folklore of these Slavic peoples, the violin is called the «skripicza». Keywords: violin, skripicza, Old Russian violin performance, Slavic bow instruments, musical terminology. DOI: 10.25791/musicology.05.2019.643 Contacts: - Pp. 48-55.