Casting marks on Scythian arrowheads as chronological indicators: the slant line mark Cover Image

Литые метки на скифских наконечниках стрел, как хроноиндикаторы: метка косая линия
Casting marks on Scythian arrowheads as chronological indicators: the slant line mark

Author(s): Marina Daragan
Subject(s): History, Archaeology
Published by: Нижневартовский государственный университет
Keywords: North Black Sea region; Scythian period; Scythians; chronology; arrowheads; marks; arrowheads production;

Summary/Abstract: From the middle of the 5th century BCE casting marks appear оn Scythian arrowheads. One type of mark that became widespread is the mark in the form of an oblique line slanted to the left (a slash). This paper presents 55 quiver sets, the owners of which used different types of arrowheads marked with such a mark. The burial complexes in which they were found date from the 2nd to the beginning of the 3rd quarter of the 4th century BCE. Analysis of quiver sets from these complexes made it possible to identify seven types of arrowheads that define a narrow chronological horizon. The arrowheads with an oblique slant line mark, as well as the quivers that contain them, were common only during a relatively narrow time period and as such represent reliable chronological indicator of the 2nd — early 3rd quarter of the 4th century BCE.