Pages: 15-32 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp2641532
This article presents a collection of Late La Tène period artifacts discovered on the outskirts of the Kartal hillfort on the left bank of the lower Danube. All the items were found in a small pit, partially covered by a stone ring (cromlech). The hoard consisted mainly of fragmentary artifacts. Examination of the fragments and their reconstruction made it possible to identify the typology of these objects. The group of weapons included the following iron items: a curved combat knife (dagger) known as a sica, an intact spearhead, the socket of another spearhead, fragments of the blades of two or three swords, and a knife with a curved back. Protective equipment is represented by fragments of iron armor (muscle cuirass). An iron spur and bronze studs with spikes on the reverse are part of a horseman’s equipment. The most interesting find is an award vexillum in the form of a solid iron rod with silver plating (?) and ornamentation. Analysis of the hoard’s contents allows it to be dated to the Late La Tène period — the second half of the 1st century BCE to the early 1st century CE. The cromlech and stone platform date to a later period — the second half of 1st century to the early–first half of the 2nd century AD. The stone structure was apparently accidentally built over the place where the hoard was deposited. However, it is possible that this area within the settlement was intended for a memorial or sacrificial ritual of some kind.
Keywords: Kartal, Late Latène period, sica, vexillum, armour, terra sigillata
Information about authors:
Igor Bruyako (Odessa, Ukraine). Doctor of Historical Sciences. South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushinsky. Staropotofrankivska St., 34, Odessa, 65020, Ukraine
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-6359-2806
Vladimir Goroncharovskii (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191181, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-4405-716X