Bladed weapons from grave 33 of the Kichmalka II cemetery in Kabardino-Balkaria

The paper explores a set of weapons from grave 33 of the Kichmalka IIcemetery located in the Zolsky District of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, the RussianFederation. The set consisted of a long sword and a short sword of the Mediterraneanorigin that had ferrules extended on to the shafts (Fig. 1). The X-ray examination hasshown that the ferrules were made when the blades with broken shafts were repaired(Fig. 2). Stylistically similar items have been so far found only among the artifacts ofthe Tsebelda culture (Fig. 3). The authors assume that such weapons were exportedfrom the Tsebelda area and reached the North Caucasus population in the 5th - early 6thcenturies. A component of the sword-belt (a large amber pendant bead with a plaque madein the cloisonné style) and parts of the short sword scabbard also find stylistic parallelsamong the weapons associated with Mediterranean or Early Byzantine military traditionsthat absorbed Late Roman, Sasanid and nomadic elements.