On the origin of the name of the sacred site of Kumat near Bransk. The end of a legend?

Abstract

The name of the Kumat sacred site near Bransk comes from the hypocoristic form of the forename Konrad. In light of the analysis of the collected material there are no grounds for searching the Baltic origin of the name. The name commemorates the person of miller Kumat (Konrad) Tuszewicki/Tushevitski, rather than Kumat, the chief of the tribe of Yatvings. Descendants of miller Kumat (i.e. Konrad)’s relatives – the Tushevitski and the Zhegun’ still live in this area. The sacred site of Kumat was most probably originally called Rybakovshchizna/Rybakovshchina. The starting point for onomastic inquiries, especially concerning difficult names, should be an extensive analysis of ample (as far as possible) source material. Attempts to adjust research material to pre-assumed theses may lead to erroneous conclusions, which, eventually, is not conducive to the development of onomastics and improvement of its research methods.