A Nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum évkönyve 44. (Nyíregyháza, 2002)

Régészet - Igor Gavritukhin: On the study of double-plate fibulas of the first subgroup

On the study of double-plate fibulas of the first subgroup influence of the beginning of the final phase of the Late Roman Age is dated not earlier than the period of Constantine's reign. It should be mentioned that it touched non-elite strata of barbarians and thereby stimulated the appearance of imitations of imported, expensive, highly artistic articles and influenced the formation of new original local styles and types of objects. The upper border of the Ganzkow-Kosanovo horizon is defined by the time of formation of local and interregional styles of objects that marks period C3 - the final phase of Late Roman Period. They include: the goblets of Kowalk type; the earliest versions of glassware designed especially for barbarians; T-shaped fibulas with spring, massive bow and "short" foot; P-shaped fibulas with flat wide bow and inverted foot and solid catch-plate; rather large oval iron curled-up buckles; combs of type III (by Thomas); and others. Their appearance was not a brief synchronous phenomenon with no variance among different cultures. The assemblages with coins from the Danube region and from the Crimea date the lower border of the process to the "late Constantine" period (about 320/330 by Keller and Tejral); and from the middle of the 4

th c. it is possible to record well-formed mass local series and "advanced" variants of the mentioned objects (see the review of literature at SHAROV 1992. 191-194). Each object referred to above dates the Ganzkow-Kosanovo horizon to the period from the age of Constantine up to the middle of the 4

th c. (about 310-350). Cherniakhov double-plate fibulas also appear at the end of the Late Roman Period. Among them there are variations that are typologically very close to the specimens of the Kosanovo circle. We mean small (about 5 cm) specimens with short foot, widened at the edge opposite to the bow, and with one spring. Among these objects there are rather standard local variants that differ by the contours of foot, the type of post for the spring and some other details (map 2). On the territory from the region of the Lower Danube up to the Dniester Valley, doubleplate fibulas with a post for the spring, a lower string, a head without a button and a nonwide foot are widespread; known specimens have a "boat-shaped" catch-plate (fig. 1: 1,3variant Petresti, map 2: 1). The prototypes of all details of these articles can be found on the specimens of the Kosanovo circle or on the close ones from the same zone. The "archaic" Crimean double-plate fibulas differ from the described ones because of their widened foot and semicircular section of the bow (fig. 3: 24-25 - variant 1 of the Crimean series, map 2: 4). The finds from Volhynia and the Upper Western Bug (fig. 3: 18-19, 27 - series Gródek, map 2: 5) are close to them. The aforementioned Crimean objects have no prototypes among local antiquities. They cannot be considered as having originated directly from the specimens of "Kosanovo" circle examined above or from any other groups of fibulas known to me: their origin is unknown. It is clear that the fibulas of the Gródek series were formed either under the influence of Crimean ones or from one source. On the other hand, the decorative band found on most of them and the triangular bow section indicate some other influences. The finds of "archaic" shape from the Dnieper Basin region have buttons on the head-plate. The post for the spring on some specimens is designed for a lower string (fig. 1:6- variant Alekseevka, map 2: 7), but a lot of objects are characterised by a post for the spring with a slit, designed for the upper string (fig. 1: 7, 9-10, 13, 4: 28 - block of variants Boromlia-Kompanijtsy, map 2: 3, 9). The prototype of this design can be found among the specimens of the Kosanovo circle in the find from Neslukhov (fig. 1: 25). This does not seem surprising considering the number of analogies to the finds marking the early Cherniakhov horizon of objects from the left bank of the Dnieper that are known in the western part of the modern Ukraine (NEKRASOVA 1990.). It is