Swords and daggers of early nomads from Transylvania and Southern Carpathians: Local varieties and continental trends
Swords and daggers of early nomads from Transylvania and Southern Carpathians: Local varieties and continental trends

Summary/Abstract: Transylvania and Wallachia, like the Caucasus and the Middle Dnieper, can be considered the centres of the genesis of Scythian bladed weapons, especially in the Early Scythian period. Furthermore, the early Scythian time was the period of the creative reinvention of the Gudermes and Kelermes traditions, which led to the appearance in Transylvania of the Posmuș and Deleni types of akinakai, and in Wallachia – of the Ferigile type of the second half of the 7th – the turn of the 7th-6th centuries BC. The distribution of the early Scythian swords and daggers allows us to conclude that their penetration into the Carpathian-Danube region took place on two main routes: along the northern border of the forest-steppe to Transylvania at the initial stage, and later – along the southern border between steppe and forest-steppe, through the Bărăgan plain to the South Carpathians. Moreover, one of the earliest finds of an akinakes with an antenna pommel (Frata type of the second half of the 7th century BC) was also found in Transylvania. The Carpathian-Danube region is also characterized by an isolated series of single-edged swords of the Nógrád type, which area does not extend beyond the Middle Danube, Transylvania and South Carpathians.

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