Pages: 83 - 118

The article addresses prestigious archaeological finds of the post-Hunnic Time (the second half of the 5th — the middle of the 6th c.) and artefacts that testify to the spread of the “military” material culture in the Upper and Middle Dnieper basin, on the territory of the Slavic cultures of Kolochin and Penkovka. These finds enable us to determine the geography of possible centers of power. One of them was on the Dnieper Left Bank, somewhere between Upper Psel and Desna, and the second — on the Right Bank of the Dnieper in the Ros-Tiasmina area. Finds of prestigious weapons (helmets of Baldenheim type, early Byzantine sword, ‘prestigious’ horse bridle) and characteristic elements of the belt set indicate the formation of the military elite. Data from written Byzantine sources of 530—570 confirm the existence of military leaders and professional soldiers in Slavic society.

Keywords: Dnieper region, Post-Hunnic Time, “princely” finds, “military” civilization, centers of power

Information about author:

Michel Kazanski (Paris, France). Doctor Habilitat on Archaeology. National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). Rue du Cardinal Lemoine, 52, Paris, 75005, France
E-mail: [email protected]