Horse Bits from Burial 86 of the Kamyshly-Tamak I Burial Ground: on the issue of early assemblages of the Piany Bor archaeological culture

Abstract

The authors consider the finds of bits of a very rare type for the Piany Bor archaeological culture – with C-shape cheek-pieces. Such bits were reliably found only in two assemblages – Kamyshly-Tamak, burial 86 and Urmanayevo II, burial 8. C-shape cheek-pieces are divided into two chronological groups on the Black Sea sites: early, with a big C-shape bend of the shank, and late, with a more straight shank. Both the Piany Bor finds belong to the second subgroup, but to different variants. Urmanayevo II cheek-piece, burial 8 corresponds to a very rare variant with a flattened lower part, known from only two burials. C-shape cheek-pieces with a relatively straight shank are characteristic for the so-called "strange complexes" or "hoards" of the second period of their existence – II–I centuries BC, they covers most of the Northern Black Sea region, including the Lower and Middle Don and Kuban regions. The burials under consideration – Kamyshly-Tamak, burial 86 and Urmanayevo II, burial 8 – date back to the II century BC and are among the earliest in the Piany Bor culture.

Keywords

• archaeology
• kama river region
• black sea region
• chronology
• early sarmatian period
• piany bor archaeological culture
• "strange complexes"
• bits
• cheek-pieces
• headband