Pages: 31-52

The article presents an in-depth description of bridle assemblages from Shipovo mounds (Group 1) and Ochlebinino burial ground located in the forest-steppe Southern Cis-Urals (present-day Republic of Bashkortostan, the right bank of the Belaya River). Both sites represent the early stage of the Kara-Abyz culture (the 4th—3rd centuries BC). One of the populations related to this phenomenon was semi-settled nomads of the initial (Filippovka) stage of the Prokhorovka culture. The research showed that their horse harness is of Western (Scythian-Maeotian) origin. In this paper, we describe the causes, conditions and the chronology of its occurrence among the Southern Ural nomadic populations and their interrelation with the extension of their territory and the advancement of military contingents far to the west, up to the borders of the Bosporan Kingdom. We also conclude the close relationship between the remote areas belonging to the Sarmatian culture (Southern Urals) and its highly militarized far west neighbors (Lower Don, Kuban, Cis-Caucasus), wherefrom a significant number of horse harness finds and bladed weapons came constantly during the most of the 4th century BC.

Keywords: Southern Urals, Northern Cis-Caucasus, the initial (Filippovka) stage of the Prokhorovka culture, Kara-Abyz culture, nomads, Sarmatians, horse bridle, Maeotians

Information about author:

Nikita Savelev (Ufa, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of History, Language and Literature, Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Oktyabr Ave., 71, Ufa, 450054, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]