Metallic "crooked scythes" in Kudashevskiy I burial ground

The article presents the results of studying iron objects from the funerary complexes of the graves of the Kudashevskiy I burial ground of III-V centuries AD. The necropolis is in the basin of the Tulva river of the Bardymski district of Perm region. In the collection of the burial ground, the greatest number of «crooked scythes» (about 70 copies) among all the known burial grounds of the Kama region has been found. The author used the method of mapping the tombs in the burial ground. The correlation between «crooked scythes» and the composition of tools/weapons in the burials where they were found was conducted. Metallographic analysis of two «crooked scythes» has been done. There are two possible ways of using «crooked scythes» as a tool and, if necessary, as a weapon. The author analyzed the complexes with «crooked scythes» in male and female graves, the peculiarities of the composition of the ware complexes with iron bit (riders) and without it (foot soldiers). As a result, the graves having «crooked scythes» are compact in the ranks on the cemetery, and, in one grave, there are from one to six «crooked scythes». The number of burials containing «crooked scythes» along with household items (knives, sickles) and «crooked scythes» with weapons (spear, sword, arrowheads) are about the same, which shows the value of «crooked scythes» for the ancient population who left the Kudashevskiy I burial ground. The found items were discovered in male and female graves and in the graves of important persons, which indicates that the scythe was a specialized tool, primarily for the development of the forest territory of the Middle Kama region. The items appeared in the Kama region in the result of trade exchanges, military clashes, and other contacts of ancient men in the period of the Great Migration of Peoples.