An artifact assemblage of the VI сentury from the Eastern Trans-Kama region
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2026.3.171.180Keywords:
archaeology, Eastern Trans-Kama region, Imenkovo culture, Great Migration Period, ethnic-cultural contactsAbstract
This paper deals with a assemblage of jewellery dating to the second half of the VI century, discovered in the eastern part of the Trans-Kama region; the exact location of the find remains unknown.The assemblage probably originates from disturbed burials. The typological uniformity, narrow chronological range, and common cultural affiliation of most items support their interpretation as a single artifact assemblage. The assemblage comprises four necklets twisted from three wires; six openwork clasps; one sulgama-type fastener with ends extending beyond the ring; six spiral tubular beads; one hollow horse figurine; one pin with a figure-eight movable link; seven bronze fragments of rolled tubes; three wheel-shaped pendants; seventeen round-wire bracelets and one twisted bracelet; and a lump of coiled bronze wire. The ethnic cultural attribution of this complex is determined by the presence of two diagnostic items exclusive to bearers of Imenkovo traditions: the pin with a figure-eight movable link and the sulgama with extending ends, alongside tubes formed from rolled plates. Other items found at the Imenkovo burial ground: round-wire bracelets with widened ends, clasps with an openwork design of the frame, necklets twisted from three wires and a horse figurine, have quite close analogies. Wheel-shaped pendants, most widely represented at sites of the Nevolino culture, likely represent adopted components. Several listed artifact types also occur at the Bakhmutino sites, though they are less prevalent and their analogies less precise. The chronological position of this Trans-Kama artifact assemblage is established through correspondence between several items and materials from group II of the Verkh-Saya burial ground, dated to the second half of the VI century. The presented materials illustrate processes of interaction between the Imenkovo population and the Nevolino tribal groups.
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