Eurasian Nomads

Archäologie des Nomadischen

by Ulf Scharrer

Co-authored with Sören Stark and Mohammad Ababneh,
in: Annegret Nippa (ed.): Kleines ABC des Nomadismus, Hamburg 2011, p. 28-30.

Совеременное состояние киммерийской проблемы. Итоги дискуссии «Киммерийцы: проблемы исторической и культурной интерпретации», ВДИ, 1999, № 2, 77-97

by Askold Ivantchik

Rev.: Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in the Early Iron Age. Ed. by J. Davis-Kimball, V.A. Bashilov, L.T. Yablonsky. Berkeley, Zinat Press, 1995, XXXII + 403, Eurasia antiqua, 4, 1999, 376-380

by Askold Ivantchik

TartariaMag_issue1-2012

by Nikolay Tsyrempilov

Die archäologischen Spuren der Kimmerier im Vorderen Orient und das Problem der Datierung der vor- und frühskythischen Kulturen, in: Migration und Kulturtransfer. Der Wandel vorder- und zentralasiatischer Kulturen im Umbruch vom 2. zum 1. vorchristlichen Jahrtausend. Akten des Internationalen Kolloquiums, Berlin, 23. bis 26. November 1999. Hrsg. R. Eichmann, H. Parzinger (Kolloquien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Bd. 6). Bonn, 2001, 329-342

by Askold Ivantchik

Review (and my samokritika): N. Pianciola, "Stalinismo di frontiera" [Frontier Stalinism. Agricultural colonisation, extermination of the nomads, and State-building in Central Asia (1905-1936)], Roma 2009

by Beatrice Penati

This is a much longer version of the review I wrote for Central Eurasian Reader.
I post it online for two reasons: first, because I think this is an important book that deserves to be known beyond the small circle of those who read Italian; second, because in my review for Central Eurasian Reader I misunderstood a passage (p. 486 top). The author pointed this out, and this is my way to do a thorough samokritika.

К вопросу о «переднеазиатских изображениях» евразийских номадов, История и языки древнего Востока: памяти И.М. Дьяконова. СПб., 2002, 102-118.

by Askold Ivantchik

Multiregional Emergence of Mobile Pastoralism and Non-Uniform Complexity across Eurasia

by Michael Frachetti

Current Anthropology 2012

Едно ранносредновековно прободно-сечащо оръжие (VІ-VІІ в.) от колекцията на НИМ. EARLY MEDIEVAL CUTTING AND STABBING WEAPON, A PALASH SABRE (6TH–7TH C.) FROM THE NMH COLLECTION. - In: Известия на Националния исторически музей. том ХХ, Велико Търново, 2009

by Nikolai Hrissimov

EARLY MEDIEVAL CUTTING AND STABBING WEAPON, A PALASH SABRE (6TH–7TH C.)
FROM THE NMH COLLECTION
Nikolay... more EARLY MEDIEVAL CUTTING AND STABBING WEAPON, A PALASH SABRE (6TH–7TH C.)
FROM THE NMH COLLECTION
Nikolay Hrisimov
(Summary)
The article represents a type of early medieval weapon, until present unfamiliar on the territory of the Balkans. This very kind of weapon is known in the Russian archaeological literature under the name of „palash“ – it is considered to have preceded the emergence of the sabre.
The palash sabre is an accidental treasure-hunters’ find. Its place of finding is unknown; the single considerably precise information given is that it had been discovered somewhere in the Vratza region.
The overall find comprises the sword itself as well as two P-shaped rings that served for suspending the sabre from the belt. One of them had broken before the weapon was buried in the ground.
This type of arms was distinctive of the 6th–7th century. It was spread almost all over the Eurasian territory, characterized by its mild climate. The concentration of such weapons in the 6th–7th centuries is most compact in the Carpathian valley. According to Laszlo Simon’s typology, the discussed specimen
can be attributed to Type 1 – with straight blade, single-edged, without a hand guard. Considerable number of the kind was found in the southern steppes of Russia.
Considering the closest parallels of the P-shaped hangers (Kerim Loo; graves 52 and 62 from Borisovo; mound 29, grave 2 from the Chapaevskii hutor; the accidental finds from Pysta and Artzibashevo; Castel Trosino, grave F; Nocera Umbra, graves 6 and 84) the palash from the NMH collection can be attributed to the late 6th – early 7th century.
The fact that the palash was unearthed together with the hilt rings and that wooden traces were preserved, support the suggestion that the sabre originates from a burial complex. The hanger and the mount on the scabbard might have been broken in connection with the practice of ritually making harmless
the deceased’s weapon before it was deposited in the ground.

Is There a “Nationality of the Hephtalites”?

by Etienne de la Vaissière

« Is there any 'Nationality of the Ephtalites' ? », in M. Ghose, É. de la Vaissière, Hephtalites, Bulletin of the Asia institute, 17, 2007, p. 119-137.

The Hephtalites as a political entity, not a linguistic or ethnic one The Hephtalites as a political entity, not a linguistic or ethnic one

Huns et Xiongnu

by Etienne de la Vaissière

« Huns et Xiongnu », Central Asiatic Journal, 49-1, 2005, p. 3-26

On the relationship between the Xiongnu and the Huns: the Sogdian and Bactrian testimonies naming Xiongnu Huns and... more On the relationship between the Xiongnu and the Huns: the Sogdian and Bactrian testimonies naming Xiongnu Huns and Huns Xiongnu are here vindicated

“The Military Alliance between the Cumans and Bulgaria from the Establishment of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom to the Mongol Invasion”, Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi, 16 (2008/2009), pp. 29-54

by Francesco Dall'Aglio

Some Results of the Application of a Complex Approach to the Research of the Late Bronze Age Muradymovo Settlement in the Volgo-Ural Region

by Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica IANSA

The Late Sarmatian and Early Alanic elite plot in the cemetery of Klin-Yar III, near Kislovodsk (Stavropol kraj, Russia). In: Pos’yashchena pamyati M.M. Trapsh. Problemy drevnej i srednevekovoj arkheologii Kavkaza: Materialy konferentsii. Sukhum: ABIGI 2011. 202-206.

by Heinrich Härke

co-authored with A. Belinskij (Stavropol)

Klin-Yar is a well-known, large cemetery of regional importance for the North Caucasus. Joint Anglo-Russian fieldwork... more Klin-Yar is a well-known, large cemetery of regional importance for the North Caucasus. Joint Anglo-Russian fieldwork 1994-96 by A. Belinskij (Stavropol) and the author uncovered 52 graves, with more than 100 individuals.

This expedition also uncovered a concentration of rich Sarmatian and Alanic graves in one area which we termed the ‘elite plot’. With two exceptions, it contains the richest catacombs of these two phases at Klin-Yar. All Sarmatian catacombs of the elite plot date to the Late Sarmatian period (Gavritukhin’s phase RZ); the Alanic catacombs here belong mainly to the 5th/6th centuries AD (phase I after Gavritukhin) and the 7th century AD (phase III). The numbers of burials need not imply more than one high-status family, or at the most two families, burying their dead in the elite plot over some 350 - 400 years.

The elite plot at Klin-Yar seems to be a unique phenomenon in the North Caucasus. The increasing emphasis on family or kin-group burial in the elite plot during the Early Alanic period may signal the rise of a hereditary aristocracy.

Комар А.В. Детали обуви восточноевропейских кочевников VI–VII вв.

by Alex Komar

Published in: Славяно-русское ювелирное дело и его истоки. Материалы Международной научной конференции, посвященной 100-летию со дня рождения Гали Фёдоровны Корзухиной (Санкт-Петербург, 10–16 апреля 2006 г.) – СПб.: Нестор-История, 2010. – С.94-115.

Alexey Komar. Fragments of the East European Nomads’ footwear, 6th–7th Centuries A.D.

The paper analyzes... more Alexey Komar. Fragments of the East European Nomads’ footwear, 6th–7th Centuries A.D.

The paper analyzes the metal details found in the feet area of East European nomad graves. The analysis of sets of metal
shoe fragments — their disposition and combination — show that they were part of bandage belts for soft boots.
The reconstruction the schemes of bandage gives two basic types (with variants) used by East European nomads
in the 6th–7th centuries A.D. Type I: single bandage belt usually fi xed as a fi gure-of-eight. Type II: bandage
with additional moveable or half-moveable heel belt.
Both traditions of bandage originate in the traditions of the Iranian peoples of the Late Antiquity and Early
Medieval times (Scythians, Sarmathians, Parthians, Sassanian Perse), although the style of metal fragments found
in the graves of East European nomads of the 6th–7th centuries A.D. is usually of Byzantine origin and identical
to those found at the Early Medieval cemeteries in the Crimea.

The role of the Hungarian rulers in relations of Bulgaria and Byzantium with nomads of Northern coast of the Black Sea in 10 – 11 centuries: the lacuna in historiography or the insufficiency of sources?

by Mykola Melnyk

Published in: Проблеми гуманітарних наук: Наукові записки Дрогобицького державного педагогічного університету ім. Івана Франка. Дрогобич. 2003. Вип. 11. С. 137-145.

Mykola Melnyk. The role of the Hungarian rulers in relations of Bulgaria and Byzantium with nomads of Northern coast... more Mykola Melnyk. The role of the Hungarian rulers in relations of Bulgaria and Byzantium with nomads of Northern coast of the Black Sea in 10 – 11 centuries: the lacuna in historiography or the insufficiency of sources?
From the time of their appearance in the Northern coast of Black Sea (9th. с.) Pechenegs took active participation in foreign policy of the neighbour countries – Bulgaria, Russia, Byzantium and Hungary. The list of the international events of this region of 10th.-11th. с. with participation of both nomads of Northern coast of Black Sea and the Hungarian rulers shows, that in conflicts Petchenegs mostly sided with Hungarians. Despite of sufficiency of sources, the problem of multilateral international relations with participation of nomads has no acceptable illumination in historiography.
Key words: nomads of the Northern coast of Black Sea, Byzantium, Bulgaria, Hungarian rulers, international relations, medieval sources, historiography.

THE PROBLEM OF RELATIONS BETWEEN BYZANTIUM AND NOMADS OF NORTHERN COAST OF BLACK SEA REGION IN 10-11 C. IN CONTEMPORARY NUMISMATIC AND SPHRAGISTIC STUDIES

by Mykola Melnyk

Till the middle of 20th C. written sources had been the most important for studying relations between nomads of... more Till the middle of 20th C. written sources had been the most important for studying relations between nomads of Northern coast of Black Sea and Byzantium. With the beginning of vast archeological excavations on the territory of Romania, Bulgaria and the former USSR the numerous finds of byzantine coins and seals became of more importance. Researches of P. Diaconu, E. Oberländer-Târnoveanu, Gh. Mănucu-Adameşteanu, G. Atanasov, I. Jordanov and other scientists, based on numismatic and sphragistic data specified the list of byzantine rulers of the region of Lower Danube, found out some new circumstances of conflicts and peaceful  relations between Byzantium and nomads unknown before. Finds of byzantine coins and seals on the territory of the Lower Danube and Balkans are of the great potential for further studying. 

Key words: Byzantium, Turanian nomads, historical sources, byzantine coins and seals, Romanian historiography, Bulgarian historiography.

NOMADS AND SETTLED POPULATION OF THE REGION BETWEEN THE DNIESTER AND THE DANUBE IN ROMANIAN AND MOLDAVIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY OF 40–80 YEARS OF 20 C.

by Mykola Melnyk

Published in: Наукові зошити історичного факультету Львівського національного університету імені Івана Франка. – Львів. – 2005. – №7. – С. 13–24.

NOMADS AND SETTLED POPULATION OF THE REGION BETWEEN THE DNIESTER AND THE DANUBE IN ROMANIAN AND MOLDAVIAN... more NOMADS AND SETTLED POPULATION OF THE REGION BETWEEN THE DNIESTER AND THE DANUBE IN ROMANIAN AND MOLDAVIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY OF 40–80 YEARS OF 20 C.
Mykola Melnyk
Ivan Franko National University of L’viv,
research worker of “The Encyclopedia of university” project
Turanian nomad tribes and settled population coexisted in the region between the Dniester and the Danube during long time. This article made attempt to compare the achievements of Moldavian and Romanian historiography of 40–80 years of 20 C. in investigation of relations between nomad and agricultural population of this area. Author, having analyzed works of P. Diaconu, V. Spinei, C. Preda, G. Fedorov, G. Chebotarenko, I. Knjazkiy, A. Nudelman and other scientists, comes to the conclusion, that understating of role played by nomads in the region is common for historians of both countries. But ethnical characteristic of settled population is different – Romanian or Slavonic. Using of sources and preceding historiography is poor in many studies. There are reasons to consider, that studying was influenced by latent territorial conflict between USSR and Romania.
Key words: the Dniester, the Danube, Turanian nomads,  settled population, Romanian historiography, Moldavian historiography.

Vizantija i kochivnyky Pivnichnogo Prychornomorja v XI st.: problemy istoriografii

by Mykola Melnyk

Vizantijskij Dunaj v istoriografii: vid “Danube d'Empire” do limen Vizantiji

by Mykola Melnyk