Комплекс вооружения позднесарматского времени территории Западного Казахстана и Устюрта
The Weapon System of the Late Sarmatian Period within Western Kazakhstan and Ustyurt

Summary/Abstract: The article provides data analysis of the weapon system from the Late Sarmatian burial grounds of Western Kazakhstan and Ustyurt. The statistical sample includes 315 burials from burial mounds and ritual burial structures. Weapon items, such as swords, daggers, fighting bimetallic knives, axes, arrowheads and spears, shields, bone plates for bows, were identified in 38 graves, which makes 12 %. However, this figure is undermined by the data from Ustyurt, where most of the mounds were robbed. Statistical data from Western Kazakhstan sites only increase this percentage to 16 %, which is the average indicator across the whole area of the late Sarmatian culture. The weapon system items found in the region’s burial grounds is standard for the mid-2nd — 4th centuries AD and suggests that it was generally intended for conducting a close offensive combat. Two shields found in the mounds on the eastern chink of Ustyurt (one of which is of Roman origin and the second is wicker) confirms that the later Sarmatians did have protective weapons.

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