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 that all the finds in the Dnieper basin region mentioned above are of a small size (up to 6 cm). Obviously, the tendency of increasing size, which is fixed for other series, was not universal, and it is frequently necessary to search for other criteria to reach a chronological attribution for the Dnieper fibulas. Fibulas with wide foot are represented, in addition to the forms described above, by several other variants (map 4: 1-2). The specimen from burial 88 in Gavrilovka (fig. 7: 5), based on the shape of the post for the spring, wide foot and lengthened head-plate, continues an evolutionary line of Dnieper fibulas of Gavrilovka-Cherniakhov variations. The area of extension of its foot, moved closer to the bow, allows the comparison of this object with the above-mentioned earlier specimens from Gochevo and burial 14 in Zhurovka, which are dated to the Hun Age. It is confirmed by grave 88, where a buckle was found (fig. 7: ?>-4) the tongue of which was made from the fragment of a fibula with wide plane bow (as was noted above, the existence of such fibulas dates to the chronological interval from the middle of the 4

th to the beginning of the 5

th c). The find from a tainik (cache) of burial chamber 145/1904 in Kerch (fig. 7: 14) is also close to the Gavrilovka series. It differs from Dnieper finds only by its large size. Analogies to the type of post for the spring and to the contours of the head-plate are found both in Kerch and in the Dnieper Basin region; however, the contours of the foot are alien to the traditions of Bosporan products but quite common in the Dnieper region. Based on the composition of subjects of armament, horse equipment and belt decorations, this hiding place is dated to the Hun Age. This date also corresponds with the imprint of a golden coin of Valentinian II (375-392); a dish with a portrait presumably dating to the reign of Constance and a garlandshaped diadem with the imprint of a coin of Gordian III (238-244) are the objects deposited for a long time, which are quite normal for assemblages of such type (ZASETSKAIA 1993. N 20-69). The fibula from this assemblage was obviously not an object of special value in comparison with the other objects, and its date was close to other objects of military equipment which were kept in the tainik (we should note, in this connection, that the single fibula from Kompanijtsy was also found in an assemblage with military equipment). The other tendency of evolution of the fibulas with wide foot becomes clear when we examine the objects from grave 5 of the Sumy-Sad cemetery (fig. 7: 17). Gorokhovski dated this assemblage within the framework of the second half of the 4

th c, basing his conclusion on a comb and buckle found together with the fibula (fig. 7: 18-19); Kazanski dated this fibula to the Hun Age due to the position of the knobs, which is unusual for double-plate fibulas. Analogies to them are found in the assemblage of period D2 from Zamosc (GOROKHOVSKI 1988A.; KAZANSKI 1997. 183). I accept the last given date, considering also the cored, massive bow of the fibula. These features, as was noted above, are known only in assemblages of the Hun Age; another indirect argument in favour of the late dating is the strong abrasion of the buckle found together with the fibula (this fact could even indicate a pre-Hunnic date). Another series of fibulas with wide foot is represented by the specimens with massive post for two springs (fig. 7: 6-7, 9, 25-26 - series Präjeni-Uspenka, map 4: 7). This feature and the semicircular section of the bow of small-size fibulas, along with the presence of a semifinished items, indicate their Dniester and Upper Danube manufacturing origin or at least the influence of these traditions. Only the widened rhombic foot can be regarded as indisputable proof of the Dnieper influence upon the series. The typological definition is confirmed by mapping as well: the area of the series includes the Carpathian region and the Dnieper Basin region.