Istvánovits Eszter: International Connections... (Jósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 47. Aszód-Nyíregyháza, 2001)
Alexandr V. Simonenko: On the tribal structure of some migration waves of Sarmatians to the Carpathian Basin
The graves of the rich horsemen find their closest analogies among the military assemblages from the same period in the steppes from the Southern Ural to the Azov See region (BEZUGLOV 1988). It must be stated that the relics of a similar type are absent from areas closer to the Carpathian Basin territory of the steppes between the Danube and Dnieper. The origin of the Late Sarmatians of the Ural-Volga-Don region with their main features (the dominance of niche-graves and northern orientation, the custom of the deformation of skulls, specific "horsemen" burials of the nobility) is still an unresolved question. However, it cannot be suggested that this culture automatically developed from the previous Middle Sarmatian one (SKRIPKIN 1989). Yet for some time the representatives of the latter culture and newcomers had been living together and influencing each other to a certain degree. In my opinion, the optimal model for the origin of the Late Sarmatian tribes was suggested by A.S. Skripkin. He has drawn attention to the fact that this culture shows very strong manifestations of the burial traditions of the nomads from the Lower and Upper Amu-Daria, Bukhara and Fergana of the l st-2 nd c. Most probably, a part of the nomadic population was characterised in this period by the niche-catacomb burial rite transferred from Central Asia to the Lower Volga (SKRIPKIN 1982). We cannot rule out the possibility that this migration was connected with the strengthening of the Kushan kingdom. At the same time, the culture of the Central Asian nomads had already been formed by the turn of the 2 nd-1 st c. B.C. under strong Sarmatian influence. So, during the formation of the Late Sarmatian Culture, the "returning" impulse - the arrival of Central Asian nomads of Sarmatian origin - met a more or less kindred milieu and that accelerated and facilitated the integration processes. It has been claimed that Antique literary tradition used the term "Alani" for all the Late Sarmatians. However, this assertion is based on the methodologically incorrect projection of later data by Ammianus Marcellinus and other authors of the end of the 3 rd - 4 th c. onto the Sarmatians of the second half of the 2 nd - first half of the 3 rd c. It seems to us that the most objective source is a Bosporan inscription from the 3 rd c. A.D. that mentions the name of "the main interpreter of the Alans" (MOSHKOVA 1989, 207). The Alans are also mentioned by the authors of the História Augusta. At the same time, they and other sources go on to mention Roxolani as well among the inhabitants of the Northwest Pontic region. While admitting that most of the Late Sarmatians were involved in the Alanic tribal confederation, Skripkin is not convinced of this in the case of more eastern tribes (SKRIPKIN 1982). Thus on the one hand, we have the evidence of the Antique authors concerning the Alanic attribution of the Late Sarmatian Culture; but on the other, the use of this ethnic name to refer to all the representatives of this culture is strongly questionable. In my opinion, the reference to the Late Sarmatians of the Don and North Pontic region as Alani reflects their coexistence with the previous population that was involved in the authentic Alanic confederation. Their more or less kindred origin only served to facilitate integration. Perhaps the reason why the newly arrived nomads - citing the words of Ammianus Marcellinus - took the name of Alani will always remain an enigma. It is not inconceivable that the explanation is to be found in the common Asiatic origin of the Alani of the Middle and Late Sarmatian periods.
