Pages: 291-307

In 2017, grave no. 104 was excavated in the cemetery known as Zayukovo-3 (Baksan district, Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria). The burial was carried out in a simple pit and contained bones of two women. A Han Chinese mirror was discovered among the grave goods, as well as bronze and silver fibulae, bronze and gold medallions, as well as a significant number of glass and carnelian beads. The burial dates from the middle, possibly, the second half of the 3rd century AD. A large number of grave goods and presence of items made of precious metals allows this burial to be attributed to the elite of local tribes. Combination of a Chinese mirror and products manufactured in the territory of ancient states in this burial may suggest that one of the branches of the Great Silk Road could pass through the Baksan Gorge in the 3rd century AD.

Keywords: North Caucasus, Kabardino-Balkaria, Baksan Gorge, Zayukovo-3 cemetery, Sarmatian period, Chinese mirror, medallions, fibulae, Great Silk Road

Information about authors:

Anna Kadieva (Moscow, Russian Federation). State Historical Museum. Red Square, 1, Moscow, 109012, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Sergey Demidenko (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117036, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]