The Early Sarmatian Knight

Abstract

During the study of the Early Sarmatian burials in the burial mounds near Filippovka village (Ilek district, Orenburg oblast), a large quantity of weapons and accessories were found, which make it possible to reconstruct the military costume. All the armament items from the burial can be divided into two major groups: offensive and defensive. The former includes bows and arrows, slingshots, spears, stilettos and war hammers (“bec de corbin” type); the latter is represented by a helmet and two varieties of scaly armor, made of iron and bone or horn. The accessories of the military costume found include sword-belt buckles with zoomorphic images, as well as a torque and a bracelet, which apparently served as insignia. The reconstructed image of an elite Early Sarmatian warrior is somewhat similar to the appearance of a Western European knight, but the Sarmatian knight was about 2000 years older.

Keywords

• the Southern Cis-Urals region
• the Early Sarmatian culture
• burial mound
• offensive and defensive armament
• military elite