Археология евразийских степей (Apr 2021)
The Issue Of The Early Dating Of Piany Bor Sites. Part 4-1: Bronze Arrowheads
Abstract
The paper continues a series of publications discussing the foundations of dating the beginning of the Piany Bor culture in the Kama region in following two aspects: first, the grounds for the statements about the beginning of the culture in the 3rd century BC, and secondly, to what extent the finds in question correspond to the contemporary chronology. One of the categories is represented by bronze arrowheads. According to the results of unraveling the chains of references, almost all of them come down to the work by M.G. Moshkova in 1962 and K.F. Smirnov in 1961. In the 1980s, there were cardinal changes in the general chronology of the Sarmatian cultures - while maintaining the main features of the rite and inventory of the cultures themselves, the dating of the transition of the Early Sarmatian to the Middle Sarmatian culture has changed from the 2nd century BC to the turn of the epochs. The complexes enabling the dating of the attributes have “rejuvenated”. Bronze arrowheads are still most characteristic of the Early Sarmatian culture, but the culture itself, according to new information, existed before the beginning of the 1st century AD. But, surprisingly, this did not affect the chronology of the local cultures. A review of the cases used by M.G. Moshkova, supplemented by new information, demonstrated that bronze arrowheads have been repeatedly found in the Middle and Late Sarmatian complexes. In certain cases, these are “amulets” made of very archaic types of arrows, and in others, these are items actually used in everyday life. Considering that the placement of arrows in burials of these periods is generally uncommon, it cannot be argued that the existence of arrows is strictly limited to the 3rd century BC. And the dating references of 60 years ago are unacceptable.
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