Pages: 171-189 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/SL22171189

This article provides a critical analysis of the hypothesis of the Bastarnae (Germanic) affiliation of the Zarubintsy culture.
The analysis of archaeological and written sources does not confirm that the sites of the Poeneşti-Lukashevka type belong to the fourth group of the Zarubintsy culture or the existence of a “Zarubintsy–Poeneşti cultural community” (ZPO). Strabo’s “Geography” does not provide grounds for localizing Bastarnae in the Zarubintsy culture range. There is no archaeological data to suggest that the Zarubintsy culture could have encountered the spear-shaped (Zarubintsy type) fibulae exclusively as a result of the Bastarnae trips of 179—168 BC. What is more likely, these fibulae were borrowed from the later Scythians of the left bank of the Lower Dnieper (Glinoe), who were subjected to Celtic influence.
“Jastorf” elements in the Zarubintsy culture are present to a much lesser extent than in other latènised communities (Prseworsk, Oksywe and Poeneşti-Lukashevka cultures). The absence of a reliably Jastorf component in the early Zarubintsy assemblages excludes the direct participation of the ancient Germanic (Jastorf) population in the formation of Zarubintsy traditions.
The Zarubintsy culture belongs to the circle of latènised cultures of the pre-Roman period and is an independent and original phenomenon on the ethno-cultural map of Eastern Europe.

Keywords: Zarubintsy culture, Bastarnae, ancient Germans, Poeneşti-Lukashevka culture, Jastorf culture, pre-Roman Iron Age, La Tène period, migration

Information about author:

Alexandr Drobushevski (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-7397-2594