Fibulae from sarmatian complexes of the esaulovsky aksai

Introduction. Metal clasps for clothes, being a detail of a suit and being exposed to fashion trends, quite often changed, which makes it possible to use them as a dating material. Methods. The historical, cultural and typological methods are used in the work. Sources on the topic are represented with the reports on archaeological studies of burial mounds belonging to the Esaulovsky Aksai river basin as well as the publication of the results of archaeological research in this region and the actual fibrous material from the funds of the Volgograd Museum of Regional Studies, the State Hermitage Museum and the Astrakhan State Museum-Reserve. Analysis. The paper analyzes fibula material from Sarmatian monuments of the EsaulovskyAksay. The main points of view on the dating of clasps in the scientific literature are presented and these data are compared in the tangible material found in the burials. Results. The time of occurrence of the fibulae found in the monuments of the Esaulovsky Aksai can be divided into two periods. Over the first period (1st century BC - first half of the 2nd centuryAD), the range of fibulae had been wide. At this time, probably, through the urban centers of the Northern Black Sea coast, the provincial Roman clasps enter the steppe. But, despite the great variety of the types of clasps in this period, their number is small and occurs in 5 % of burials. Over the second period (second half of the 2nd - first half of the 3rd century AD), there is an increase in the number of clasps in the Sarmatian burials with a significant reduction in assortment. At that time the clasps were represented with onlytwo types manufactured in the cities of Bosporus and found in 26 % of the burials. In connection with the events of the mid 3rd century AD the arrival of clasps as well as other imports from the Northern Black Sea coast in the steppe of Esaulovsky Aksay stopped.