Istvánovits Eszter: International Connections... (Jósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 47. Aszód-Nyíregyháza, 2001)

Halina Dobrzanska: Contacts between Sarmatians and the Przeworsk Culture community

A.D., due in large part to a tribal political structure formed by King Pharzoios in 49 A.D. (fig. 1). This proto-state structure lasted for about 30 years. Both King Pharzoios and his successor Inismeos minted their own coins in the ancient city of Olbia (SHCHUKIN 1989A, 71, 74 -75; SHCHUKIN 1989B, 323). There are some archaeological sites with Sarmatian finds dated to the 1

st c. A.D. that correspond to this political structure. They are found on the northwestern part of the Black Sea coast and are concentrated between the Dnieper and Prut rivers, reaching as far as the lowlands situated north of the Danube estuary (SIMONENKO-LOBAI 1991, 36, ris. 24; SIMONENKO 1999B, 115, ris. 10). To the north, the sites under discussion are found as far as Ternopol and Berdichev (SHCHUKIN 1994, 489). In recent years, a few sites on the middle part of the Dniester have produced some burials of Sarmatian "local aristocracy" that are dated to the second half of the 1

st c. (SIMONENKO 1999A, 26). Among the most richly furnished burials from that territory are two graves, one of a man, and another of a woman, found in Porogi, Vinnisa Region. They were stocked with some items belonging to the cultural circle of Hellenistic traditions, which were continued in the ancient cities of Pontus. Other artefacts with origins in Asian territories were also found in the graves (SIMONENKO-LOBAI 1991). In the context of the questions discussed in our paper, the contacts between the Przeworsk Culture community and Sarmatians on the Upper Dniester are particularly noteworthy. This phenomenon has been discussed in several publications by M.B. Shchukin, who dated a group of cemeteries found near Zvenigorod and containing burials with relics from the Przeworsk, Sarmatian and Lipitsa Cultures to the period between 30 and 80 A.D. (SHCHUKIN 1994, 489-490). According to A. Kokowski (KOKOWSKI 1999, 37, 40), whose conclusions result from a detailed analysis of the grave assemblages, the first contacts between the people of the Przeworsk Culture residing on the Upper Dniester, with the Sarmatians, who were penetrating that region, ought to be dated as early as the turn of the millennium, although the author does concede that those contacts were relatively short-lived. The co-occurrence of elements belonging to the Przeworsk, the Sarmatian and, from the mid-1

st c. A.D., the Dacian culture as well in single burial assemblages in the cemeteries near Zvenigorod is dated by Kokowski to the period from the 1

st c. until the beginnings of the 2

nd c. (KOKOWSKI 1999, 40). Having no other choice, the author based his analysis on relatively poor sources, but the fact remains that contacts occurred between the Przeworsk Culture community and Sarmatians beyond the lands where the former people originated. Another kind of contact between the peoples in question is mentioned by Tacitus, according to whom a great number of the Lugii, identified as belonging to the Przeworsk Culture, in 50 A.D. attacked the state of Vannius, the ruler of the Quadi, located on the territory of the present Slovakia. A battle took place against the cavalry of the Sarmatian Jazyges (already settled in the basin of the Tisza River at that time), whom Vannius had asked for support (SHCHUKIN 1989A, 76; SHCHUKIN 1989B, 315-316). There are evidences testifying contacts between the Przeworsk Culture people and Sarmatians in the Upper Tisza region. In the period of the Marcomannic Wars this area was penetrated by Sarmatians from the south. From the end of the 2

nd c. rather numerous artifacts of the Przeworsk Culture from the north began to appear