Eastern Traditions and Innovations in Sarmatian Monuments of Second Half of the 2nd – 4th cc. AD
Abstract
The appearance of the monuments of the late Sarmatian culture has been recorded since the middle of the 2nd century AD on a vast territory from the Southern Urals to the Lower Don. The new culture is characterized by its own characteristics that distinguish it from the previous culture. This is the northern orientation of the buried, narrow pits and graves, artificial deformation of skulls, square censers, long stalks, mirrors with a central loop, stone tops and staples of swords. In different regions the formation of culture is characterized by specific features. In the Southern Urals, the late Sarmatian culture is represented in the purest form. In the Lower Volga region, a complex is formed, in which the signs of both late Sarmatian and Middle Sarmatian cultures are combined. This is due to the large number of the previous population which remained here. In the Lower Don region, there is a rapid change of cultures. The given article attempts to determine the area of distribution of elements of the late Sarmatian culture and the degree of their influence in different regions. The analysis shows that as for second half of the 2nd –first half of the 3rd century AD, we can talk about a unified late Sarmatian culture from the Trans-Ural to the Lower Don. Some features of the late Sarmatian culture are revealed in the Northern Black Sea region, but they are disjointed and not dominant. This does not allow to include the Northern Black Sea Coast in the area of distribution of the late Sarmatian culture. Finds of eastern origin in the late Sarmatian monuments indicate the absence of stable trade and economicties with the territories of Middle and Central Asia. The occurrence of such things was of an accidental nature, and they were distributed together with their owners. At present, there is no reason to talk about the possible functioning of the northern branch of the Silk Road through the steppes of the Ural-Don region in the late Sarmatian period.
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