Chronology of the Swords with Ring Pommel from the Maeotian Sites on the Right Bank of Kuban River

The article focuses on the chronological analysis of the Maeotian burials, which contained ring-topped swords. Nowadays, there is a wide range of dating of this type of weapon starting from the 1st century BC until the 2nd century AD. Recently, as a result of new excavations, the collection of swords of this type extracted from the Maeotian sites on the right bank of the Kuban river has increased significantly, and it has become possible to clarify their chronology in the region. There were found two types of swords and daggers with a ring pommel (62 pieces): I – with a straight barshaped cross-guards; II – no cross-guards. There are also 2 types of blade shape. Swords with a bar-shaped (45 pieces) prevail quantitatively as a result of those excavations. Swords of this type were discovered only in the necropolis of the Spornoye settlement. On the contrary, there was only a single dagger of type II among 11 swords found at the Elizavetinskaya cemetery No. 2. Most of the well-dated assemblages come from the cemeries of the Spornoye, Starokorsunskaya No. 2 and Elizavetinskaya No. 2 settlements. Only two swords are classified as the earliest pieces, which can be referred to the first half of the 1st century BC, according to the accompanying inventory. Another 8 assemblages are dated around the 1st century BC. It is typical of burials containing swords of the 1st century AD to show the presence of fibulae (“Aucissa” type, enamel-less hinged type, etc.), glass cast skyphos and other dating objects, which help to specify the chronology of the assemblages in many cases. Five burials belong to the first half of the 1st century AD, other 11 burials are dated back to the second half of the 1st century AD. The chronology of the rest assemblages is questionable, but only a few burials can be dated to the beginning – the first half of the 2nd сentury AD. The swords with ring pommel of the Maeotians from the right Kuban bank prevail in the period from the 1st century BC – the beginning of the 2nd century AD. The latter, most probably indicates that this type of swords with s straight cross-guard was borrowed from the Sarmatians.