Pages: 47-56

The article is about the chain mail from grave 11 of Mezmay-1 necropolis dated to the late first century BC — early first century AD. It belonged to a noble woman and contained rich grave goods. The article also introduces for discussion other chain mails from this necropolis and considers genesis and chronology of chain mails. The one from grave 11 is not similar to a short body armour without sleeves, typical for La-Tene, Hellenistic and Roman Republican traditions. It could be one of the earliest long chain mails. Body armours of this kind were used in Parthia and Sassanid Iran. It is not clear yet, whether the long chain mails appear in the North-Western Caucasus under the eastern influences or independently.

Keywords: North-Western Caucasus, Maeotian culture, Hellenistic period, Roman imperial period, chain mail armour, burial

Information about authors:

Anton Dedyulkin (Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation). Novocherkassk Museum of the History of Don Cossacks. Atamanskaya St., 38, Novocherkassk, 346429, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Nikolai Shevchenko (Krasnodar, Russian Federation). Krasnodar State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve named after E. D. Felitsyn. Gimnazicheskaya St., 67, Krasnodar, 350000, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]