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Large scale rescue excavations of the recent decades in Hungary brought several new Hun Age finds. Fragments of gilded silver plates decorating saddle were found in Norht-Eastern Hungary (Nyíregyháza-Oros), during the investigation of a Sarmatian settlement dating probably from the 3rd to the early — 5th century. We suggest that it was a whole saddle that was placed into a regular storage pit with perhaps sacrificial purpose. A similar case could be observed in Balatonlelle-Rádpuszta from where a Hun cauldron found also in a pit has been recently published. In an earlier article on the so-called “Maeotian” swords of the same period we have already drawn attention to the fact that these weapons were frequently found in settlement context — possibly also coming from sacrificial features.
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In this article we introduce into scientific use a Late-Antiquity single-chamber vault discovered in 2011 in the course of work in the Eastern necropolis of Phanagoria. Judging by a planigraphic situation, the published vault represented a part of a barrow complex erected during the Roman Age. At the time of our study the ancient mound has been destroyed entirely. The vault has been robbed through a dromos. It is indicated by demolished stone backfill at the entrance to the chamber corridor. The article contains a detailed description of the family vault design, an analysis of grave goods, a review of funeral rite features. According to the grave goods, the vault may be dated back to late 4th — early 5th centuries AD. In conclusion we state that this tomb combines pronounced traditions of Graeco-Roman Antiquity and barbarian influences.
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Braslav’s Poozerye is situated in north-western part of Belarus. Here the forts are mainly of hill type, and less often fortified settlements located on the eskers ridges have spread since the Late Bronze Age. The majority of hill forts in this region has been known since the end of the 19th century. Information about them is included in “Archaeological maps” created by F. V. Pokrovski, but excavations in these settlements had not been carried out until 1970’s. Purposeful research of early hill forts in Braslav’s Poozerye has been executed by the author since 1992. During this time he has undertaken extensive excavations at the sites of Tarilovo (Uklja), Zazony, Ratjunki, Podvarinka. Recently, A. M. Medvedev and Z. A. Haritonovich announced a thesis about attribution of these hill forts to Dnieper-Dvina culture. But research of hill forts in this region showed that they had passed under the control of Hatched Pottery cultures by the beginning of the 1st century AD.
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The article publishes an unusual lamp shaped as a Roman military boot — calceus. It was found in the filling of a cistern used to salt fish in, located under the floor of the central nave of Kruze basilica. This is a rare find not only in Chersonesos but also in the Northern Black Sea area and the Roman Empire in general. Its closest analogies can be found in the eastern part of the latter. The lamp contributes to our knowledge about the Roman military footwear. It is dated to late 2nd—3rd cc. One can suppose that the published lamp was produced in a workshop in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, which is proved by a partly preserved Greek inscription on its «sole». And the find of a lamp of this shape adds another element to our understanding of material culture of Chersonesos in the Roman time.
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The paper deals with some unusual Roman helmets. Their nonstandard size raises doubts that a warrior could actually wear them. Some of the helmets discussed in this paper were too small, while others too large for normal human head. The author considers this as a major sign of decorative purpose of such helmets. Very heavy specimens (weighing 3—4 kg) can also be considered as decorative helmets. They were not suitable to be worn not only in combat, but even as part of the military parade equipment. So half-meter in height helmet from Lake Nemi was more part of the decorative frieze than parade helmet of emperor’s guardsman. In the group of decorative helmets we can also include small votive helmets found in the temples (helmets from Autun and Ober-Florstadt). Bronze and gilded decorative helmets could be put on statue’s head, as evidenced by discovery of Cobannus’s statue and Autun helmet found in the ruins of the temple next to the fragments of a statue.
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Studies concerning archaeology of the Roman Period of the Black Sea Coast and connections between that area with other cultural zones of Europe have been substantially advanced by M. Kazanski’s investigations. The traces of above mentioned connections might be Zarubintsy fibulae, which have been considered a derivate of lanceolate fibulae, which were in use on the eastern coasts of the Adriatic Sea since the early Iron Age. The peculiar derivate of lanceolate fibulae were brooches with double needle, represented by a few variants. Among them, specimens with hinge construction, found over a vast area from the Adriatics to the Crimea. In the central area of this territory, in the Roman city Novae located in the lower Danube area, — a bronze brooch was found, with semicircular bow made from copper band, originally shaped as a crossbow. On its foot, there was a rectangular plate with two grooves, which formed catch-plates for two parallel needles. The fibula from Novae presents a specific mix of two main variants of brooches with double needle — lanceolate fibulae with crossbow construction and specimens with hinge construction similar to Avcissa type. A clear stylistic similarity to brooches with hinge construction from Dalmatia allows dating the fibula from Novae to the 1st century AD.
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In this article we investigate a number of hoards of late antique coins found in the Crimea from a new perspective. Most of Taurica’s late antique treasures saw a long period of development and include diachronic coins. We tried to apply methodology used in the study of medieval treasures for their research. As a result, we managed to define ethnic identity of the late antique coin complexes. We identified periods of circulation of a range of antique coin varieties, which allows using them to date antique sites with a big degree of certainty.
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The Legedzino cemetery is located in Cherkassy region of Ukraine. We investigated its western part (518 m²) and discovered 63 graves: 35 cremations and 28 inhumations, including one burial pit with niche. In the cultural layer we found 20.236 fragments of vessels. Of these, wheel table ware make 83,7 %, wheel kitchen ware — 15,6 %, handmade ware — 0,4 %, import ceramics — 0,3 %. Most interesting finds are presented on pictures. Parts of soldier’s belt could lead to the conclusion that local warriors served in the frontier troops of the Roman Empire on the Rhine or on the Danube. In general, according to all materials, the cemetery could be dated by the whole of 4th c. A. D.
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The article presents two fragments of Glazed White Ware I of Constantinopolitan production revealed in the cistern for salted fish uncovered in the quarter X-B in the Northern district of Chersonesos: a fragment of a spouted jug with dark olive glaze on the interior and fragment of a jug with double handle with a drop of yellow glaze. Exact analogies have come from deposit 30 of 650—670 from Sarachane in Constantinople. The cistern was filled up in the late 6th — early 7th centuries at the earliest or within the 7th century that corresponds to the 7th century date of the fragments presented. Besides, they belong to the types of vessels never found at the sites of the Northern Black Sea coast before. Thus, these two sherds of the extremely rarely occurred pottery expand the known assortment of GWW I brought here from Byzantine capital.
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The author analyzes palaeoethnobotanical materials obtained from imprints of crop caryopses found on pottery from Chernyakhov culture settlement and burial ground at Velikaya Bugaevka in the Middle Dnieper area. Statistical analysis was conducted, and its results on amount of caryopses are used to make further interpretations. Masses of main crops were recalculated in order to determine their proportions in grain farming. Cluster analysis with similar data from other sites enabled benchmarking at a new level.
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The article deals with the becoming of the Slavic tradition of dwelling construction in the Forest-Steppe region on the Dnieper's Left Bank. Examined are the materials of cultures of the 1st half of 1st millennium AD (Kiev, Chernyakhovskaya cultures) and subsequent Penkivska, Kolochynska cultures. Benchmarking led us to conclusion about the impact of the Prague culture antiquities on the house-building of the left bank`s sites of the 7th century AD. There are two house-building traditions in the cultures of the period up to Old Rus (Raykovetska, Volyntsivska, Romenska cultures). They are presented by the frame-and-pillar construction which is related to the Dnieper right bank sites and the blockhouse construction, with underlying local features.
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The author examines the history of study and problems of interpretation of the lower date of the so-called culture of the Pskov Long Barrows (Lindora-Polibino type sites) and also some aspects of their localization on the archaeological map of the North-Western part of the Eastern Europe in the beginning of Great Migration.Relying on a number of his earlier works published in 1980s — 1990s, which are not known to modern investigators (N. Petrov, A. Furas'ev, N. Lopatin, S. Kuzmin, E. Mikhaylova, B. Lyč, S. Popov), the author declines the term «culture of long barrows» which could be used in this case and advises to use a new and more correct term for all sites of South-Eastern Estonia and Pskov Land group. According to the author's opinion, it is — “the Lindora-Polibino type sites”.The text contains main conclusions of author's concept and his reply to the criticisms.Basing on well dated grave goods (belt garnitures, buckles, ornaments, weaponry, elements of harness, etc.) from the cemeteries, discovered in the Central Europe of the Late Roman and Early Migration Periods, phases C1b/C2–D2, the author suggests, that the lower date of burial complexes of the horizon of the Lindora-Polibino type sites is determined as the period from late 4th — first half of 5th centuries AD (375—450).The author abstains from the concrete ethnic definitions for “the Lindora-Polibino type sites”. He points out mixed type of the funeral and material traditions of their bearers (Finnish and Baltic elements with some influences by the military barbarians from the provinces of the Roman Empire). Also the author considers that there are not enough materials (including written sources of the late Antiquity and early Middle Age epochs) to search straight similarities and names for tribes among artificial definitions of archaeological cultures in North-Western part of the Eastern Europe.
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In the Middle Dniester region, as a result of field investigation, surveys, and archaeological researches 40 fortifications and 70 open settlements attributed to the Getic communities of the 4th-3rd centuries BC were discovered. In recent years, increased attention has been paid to the research of fortifications in the Saharna (16 sites) and Horodişte-Ţipova (7 sites) micro-zones. Based on field investigations and archaeological research, it has been observed that the defensive system of the fortifications in this region has some specific features, which are not attested in the rest of the Getic fortresses. Among these are the so-called “bastions”, which can be divided into two types according to the place of arrangement within the defensive system: bastions placed in front of the entrance gates, and “bastions” located on the perimeter of the fortification. The erection of defensive constructions of the bastion type as additional elements of the fortifications denotes the fact that the Getic communities of the Middle Dniester region had a thorough knowledge of the military architecture.
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The archaeological rescue investigations carried out in the years 2013-2016 within the limits of the Lipoveni II-La Nisipărie site allowed identification of several cultural-chronological horizons: the Usatovo group from the late Eneolithic period (IV mil. BC), the Chişinău-Corlăteni culture from the early period of the Iron Age (XII-X centuries BC), the Thracian-Getic culture of the VI-III century BC, the Santana de Mureş-Černjachov culture from the Gothic migration period (III-IV centuries AD) and remains of habitation from the medieval times (VIII-IX, XIII and XVI-XVIII centuries). The most intense habitation in the researched area corresponds to the archeological cultures of the early and late Iron Age and the Santana de Mureş-Černjachov cultural complex from the Gothic migration period (III-IV centuries BC). Due to the perpetuation of the danger of unlawful sand excavation in the site zone, it is necessary to continue rescue research to recover remarkable vestiges for the archeology of the passing zone from the forest steppe to the steppe of the Republic of Moldova. Although the territory from the north of the Lipoveni village is of an increased interest, not only from the archaeological point of view, but also from the point of view of pedology (through sand layers and other geological deposits), being also a veritable natural monument, the micro zone is in high degree of degradation, as a result of continuous illegal sand excavation.
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Ancient grave manipulations have been recorded continuously on early medieval burial sites. The Franconian necropolis Köln-Müngersdorf is no exception to the phenomenon. Already in 1955 Fritz Fremersdorf mentioned the manipulations in his publication, yet without widespread interpretation. This resulted in the opportunity to round the researches in Köln-Müngersdorf for another interesting aspect. The grave manipulations have been analyzed in detail for several aspects: burial depth, furniture, gender distribution, et cetera. In result, they were visualized in schemata as well as maps and afterwards interpreted by them. The aim of the research was, to attain information about the moment of manipulation, motivations and origin of the manipulants and what have been token from the burial equipment. Furthermore, if it is possible to obtain those information from the archaeological feature. The presented essay is an extraction from the authors graduation work to attain the Bachelor of Arts.
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Iron Age (500 BC-1000AD) settlements have been excavated in large numbers in Denmark and Scandinavia, and not only the houses but the layout of the farms and villages are well illuminated themes. Since this is not the case everywhere in Europe, this paper focuses on the important first step in order to get to grips with this problem; the archaeological prospecting. There are a number of methods at hand and they work best in combination. While prospecting, the archaeologist has to work in a source critical manner in order not simply to reproduce already known facts.
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The text deals with animal remains of two neighboring settlement sites of the pre-Roman Iron Age near GroßLuckow, a small village in northeast Germany. Both sites were discovered and partially excavated ahead of motorway construction from 1997 to 1999. The site of GroßLuckow 2 consists of dwelling houses and storage buildings as well as various forms of technical facilities, the site of GroßLuckow 3 only consists of various technical remains. The predominantly ceramic material of both places belongs to the pre-Roman Iron Age and is dated by four radiocarbon dates into the 4th to 1st Century BC. From the findings of the sites GroßLuckow 2 and 3, a total of more than 2000 animal bone fragments with a total weight of not quite 24,000 g are taken. Only a very small proportion comes from two pits of the site GroßLuckow 3. The majority of the faunal remains are slaughter- and foodstuffs, along with some bone artifacts as well as several animal deposits. Of particular importance are the domestic pig, followed by sheep and goat, cattle and horse. Dog and chicken are also represented in small quantities. Hunting seems to have played a subordinate role in nutrition. Wild animals are represented mainly in wild boar, red deer and aurochs. Small proportions of birds and fish are also present. A comparison of the animal bone material of GroßLuckow with further faunal materials is made difficult by the desolate research and publication status to animal bone finds from settlements of the pre-Roman Iron Age of the north German federal states. There is a direct connection with the equally small number of investigated and presented settlements of this time.
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