Jewellery of East European Champlevé Enamel Style among Materials of Saltiv Culture: Data Analysis
Authors:   PhD, Research Fellow, the Institute of Archaeology, the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Early Slavic Archaeology Department, Volodarets-Urbanovych Yaroslav 
Published: May 2023

In the paper jewellery from sites and complexes of the Saltiv culture, which do not chronologically fit within the boundaries of its existence, is analysed. All finds can be divided into two groups (fig. 1): East European champlevé enamel style (group I) and “antiquities of the Antes ” (group II). The second group, in turn, is divided into products typical for the hoards of the Martynivka circle (group II, subgroup 1) and items typical for the Pastyrske hillfort (group II, subgroup 2). In the article the first group is presented. It is represented by three monuments, where four finds were discovered (Table 1). First of all, there is the Tsimliansk Right-bank hillfort. Two fibulae of East European champlevé enamel style were discovered. 1. Bronze fibula, triangular (fig. 2: 3). The decoration belongs to late variations: from the middle of the 3rd to the 5th: type IV (fibulae with elements of degradation), subtype 2 after: G. Korzukhina (fig. 3; 4). 2. The upper part of the T-shaped fibula. The item is from the cultural layer at a depth of 20 cm (fig. 2: 2). The clasp belongs to late variations: from the middle of the 3rd to the 5th or even the middle — second half of the 4th century. Belongs to type IV, subtype 1 after: G. Korzukhina or to the third series, type 2 after: Ye. Hokhovskyi (fig. 5; 6). The lower extent of the Don River is not the only point with finds of East European champlevé enamel style. However, other finds come from sites and complexes of the Late Roman period. Such finds could have entered this region with the Late Sarmatian population. Secondly, there is the Dmitrievka cemetery which was investigated by S. Pletneva. A female burial from the end of the 8th century was discovered in catacomb no. 44. The lunar pendant was found on the belt according to G. Korzukhina. Korzukhina, although S. Pletneva claims that the item got into the catacomb by accident. This is a large three-horned lunar pendant, with round platforms at the ends also decorated with red enamel (fig. 7: 1). The decoration belongs to type I according to G. Korzukhina and is dated by the advanced stage of the style’s existence to the end of the 2d — 3dcenturies (fig. 7; 8). Eleven locations with finds of East European champlevé enamel style and 17 monuments of Kyiv culture are known in the upper reaches of the Siverskyi Donets River. Finally, there is the Sukha Homilsha cemetery 1 which was investigated by V. Mikheev. In burial no. 274, a detail of a rectangular link of a chain with slotted fields without enamel was found. This object belongs to late variants dated to the period from the middle of the 3rd to the 5th centuries. The burial itself is dated to the second half of the 8th — the beginning of the 9th century (fig. 9; 10; 11). East European champlevé enamel style finds and monuments of Kyiv culture are also known within the Kharkiv Oblast. Jewellery of Martynivka circle hoards and items typical for the Pastyrske hillfort from Saltiv monuments are often considered as evidence of Penkivka and Saltiv connections. However, finds of East European champlevé enamel style from Saltiv monuments has signs of the secondary usage. It indicates that other finds may also have been reused. The next works are devoted to the consideration of wellery and products typical for the Pastyrske hillfort from Saltiv monuments.