Istvánovits Eszter (szerk.): A nyíregyházi Jósa András Múzeum Évkönyve 55. (Nyíregyháza, 2013)
A 2010. október 11-14. között Nyíregyházán és Szatmárnémetiben megtartott Vándorló és letelepült barbárok a kárpáti régióban és a szomszédos területeken (I-V. század) Új leletek, új értelmezések című nemzetközi régészeti konferencia anyagai - Boris Raev: Meót plasztikus művészet - nomád hatás vagy megrendelés?
Natalja Jurjevna Limberis — Ivan Ivanovich Marchenko 33. Iron bits (Fig. 4: 9) with cheek-pieces of the same type. The edge of the cheek-piece was inlaid with lead. It was probably the trace of a contemporary repair. Length of the bit link: ca. 10 cm, diameter of the cheek-piece: ca. 6.5 cm. 34. Bronze buckle with round frame (Fig. 5: 25). Diameter: 2x2.2 cm. 35. Bronze plate clips (Fig. 5: 21a). Diameter: 1 cm (2 pieces). 36. Bronze plate clips (Fig. 6: 20). Diameter: 1.65 cm (3 pieces). 37. Open-work pending iron strap-end (Fig. 5, 3) encrusted with bronze. Inside the clip dust from the leather belt preserved. Full length: 5.3 cm. 38. Bronze plate decoration (Fig. 5: 18) in the shape of a heraldic shield. Length: 2.7 cm. 39. Bronze object (Fig. 5: 22) consisting of two pieces of tangled wire, with volutes at the ends. Length of preserved part: 2.4 cm. 40. Bronze clasp (Fig. 5: 17) consisting of two plates. Length: 1.7 cm. 4L Three-bladed, tangled iron arrowhead (Fig. 5: 41). Length: 4 cm. 42. Iron buckle with round frame (Fig. 5: 2). Diameter: 2.8-3 cm. 43. Iron ring (Fig. 5: I) with plate. Inside the ring dust from the leather belt preserved. Diameter: 2.4 cm. 44. 8-shaped iron carabiner (Fig. 5: 7) with the fragment of a ring. Length: 3.8 cm. 45. Iron clasp (Fig. 4: 2) with traces of wooden dust - probably belonged to the scabbard of the sword. Length: 4.3 cm. 46. Iron ring (Fig. 5: 9) with a fragment of a clip. Diameter: 2.4x2.6 cm. 47. Sharp pointed iron awl (Fig. 5: 4). Length of the preserved part: 2.8 cm. Analysis The burial inventory is rather diverse and impressive. A range of objects (weapons, belt details, harness and harness decorations) make us compare this burial with rich Sarmatian assemblages, dated in the frames of the first centuries AD. The bronze guard of the sword coming from the grave has got a rhomboid-shaped section, with an excision on the upper part and a central ledge at the bottom. V.E. Maslov (1999. 221) proposed to divide swords with bronze guards into two groups based on the shape of the guard: the one including the guards related to the nephrite pieces (with an excision on the upper part and central ledge at the bottom) and another one including straight guards with rhomboid section and without central ledge. A.S. Skripkin thought that the division in two groups based on the shape of the guard is not really relevant, because all such swords, regardless of the material of their guards, go back to a single tradition of manufacture (Skripkin 2000. 18.). Long swords with short rhomboid-shaped guards made of bronze, iron or nephrite and with long spike for the hilt are known from Sarmatian sites of the steppes between Volga and Don and at adjoining territories (Maximenko-Bezuglov 1987. Fig. 2, Maslov 1999.221, Skripkin 2000. Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Bezuglov 2000. Fig. 4: 1,3). The most complete list of swords of this type is published in the paper by A.S. Skripkin (2000. 18,31). The author connected their spread in Sarmatian environment with Eastern (Chinese) innovations. He dated the earliest swords in Sarmatian burials to the 2nd-lst cent. BC, and the latest ones to the 2nd-3rd cent. AD. (Skripkin 2000. 20). S.I. Bezuglov (2000. 176) in his paper devoted to the Late Sarmatian long swords from the Don area, including those with rhomboid-shaped guards, mentioned that the prototypes of the swords with similar guards were, with no doubt, objects of Chinese production. The spikes of Sarmatian long swords have rectangular section and a clincher at the upper part (Bezuglov 2000. 171). Swords with similar bronze guards 396
