Istvánovits Eszter: International Connections... (Jósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 47. Aszód-Nyíregyháza, 2001)
Halina Dobrzanska: Contacts between Sarmatians and the Przeworsk Culture community
furnished burial of a warrior, who was also provided with a bow, found in SandomierzKrakówka and comparable to the high-status elite grave in Giebultów; and the coins from the incompletely preserved hoard in Gorlice-Glinik Mariampolski, belonging to the so-called "valuable objects", or "valuables". These are the finds that point to some contacts between the social elites of the nomadic Sarmatians (as they resemble the rich burials of the Porogi type) and the local people of the Przeworsk Culture. The artefacts under discussion undoubtedly show that there existed some links with the North Pontic region. The accumulating archaeological evidence of close chronology might reflect the events that occurred only a little earlier. It is at the beginning of the last quarter of the 1 st c. that we witness the decline of a tribal political body (a protostate) founded by King Pharzoios around 49 A.D., and since 70 ruled by his successor, Inismeos. The royal seat was in Olbia (fig. 1). We know from the writings of Dio Chrysostomos, a Greek philosopher who arrived in Olbia in 83 A.D., that the city was already "free" from "Scythian" rulers (SHCHUKIN 1989B, 333-324). Thus the contacts between the population of the Przeworsk Culture and the Sarmatians, who must have been among the tribes unified by King Pharzoios, occurred during the period of the decline of the Sarmatian rulers in Olbia, or in other words during the decline of the proto-state political structure founded by King Pharzoios. It is therefore conceivable that it was precisely in the territories of Southern Poland that the Sarmatian rulers sought allies at the beginning of the last quarter of the 1 st c, while they were striving to preserve the unity of their proto-state. It is equally possible that there were also peaceful contacts, the aim of which was to broaden spheres of influence and to develop trade relations. The second period encompasses the second half of the 2 nd c. and particularly the first three decades of the 3 rd c. In comparison to the first period, the contacts between the local community of the Przeworsk Culture and the Sarmatians were broader and deeper. Among the Przeworsk finds we observe a bronze fibula (A VII type) identified as "Sarmatian" and worn by women as a part of their clothing (fig. 4). Some of those fibulas were locally made of iron, a metal often used by the population of the Przeworsk Culture. The Fig. 6 Grzybów, Swiçtokrzyskie Voivodship 1: arrowhead (after GARBACZ 1995, 213, fig. 2: a), Grabice, Lubuskie Voivodship, 2: brooch (after DOMANSKI 1992, 78, fig. 1: 10)
