Биметаллические акинаки типа Гудермес и использование бронзы в изготовлении раннескифского клинкового оружия

Abstract

One of the features of Scythian archaic blade weaponry is the use of bronze, often in the combination with iron. This technology of Early Scythian bimetallic akinakai goes back to “Cimmerian scheme”. Within the framework of that scheme Prescythian daggers of Kabardino-Pjatigorsk type were manufactured. It is possible that the latest daggers of this type are likely were used until the middle 7th c. BC, so they could be treated as prototypes for Scythian akinakes. Bimetallic technology of Scythian smiths was inspired by previous tradition and the first exemplars of Gudermes akinakai appeared at the turn of 8th–7th c. BC in the Caucasus. In the Carpathian basin archaic Scythian akinakai made wholly or partly of bronze are also well-known. These Posmuю type akinakai are closely related to the next tradition – of Kelermes type – which also penetrated to Northern Pontic region from the territory of Caucasus region. Posmuю type was probably an intermediate one combining old technology of bronze casting and new morphology. A number of features shows a genetic link between Gudermes and Kelermes types. Among them are three-part handle and the bight under the pommel. So the bimetallic akinakes is the product of the further evolution of bladed weaponry produced by “Caucasian laboratory” and it could be assumed that within a certain period of time it coexisted with Kabardino-Pjatigorsk type daggers, perhaps in the 1st half of 7th c. BC. Further development of the Scythian akinakai and their distribution in Black Sea region probably provoked the renouncement of the use of bronze due to the excessive complexity of or limited access to raw materials. However, the morphology of this new product was more stable, as a result new types of swords and daggers appeared. In the Danube-Carpathian region, a creative rethinking of Gudermes and Kelermes traditions is registered for Early Scythian period. These processes led to the emergence of such types as Posmuş one in Transilvania and Ferigile one in Wallachia – local Carpathian-Danube phenomena of the region. The singularity of distribution of the first akinakai allows us to conclude that there are two major ways by which the Scythians (and their akinakai) could penetrate into the region: initially, along the northern border of forest-steppe to Transilvania and later – along the southern border, to Bгrгgan Plain.