Finds of the “Eastern European” type of enamels and some issues related to development of the Ryazan-Oka Finns’ culture assemblages

The paper elaborates on some aspects of the Ryazan-Oka Finns’ culture development. Finds of j ewelry of the Eastern European type of enamels and their derivatives (Fig. 1, 2), twisted torcs with loops in the terminals, Oka fibulae with press studs (Fig. 5), shaft-hole axes in funerary assemblages discovered in this culture area and the adjacent areas suggest stable links with the populations groups of the Early Slav Kievan traditions, the Moshchino culture and the earlier population of the Upper Oka basin. Some forms of jewelry attributed to other cultures (ring fasteners) became the basis for developing specific Ryazan-Oka jewelry (Fig. 4). Emergence of the artifacts attributed to the group of Eastern European enamels marks the upper boundary of the early development stage of the Ryazan-Oka culture (the 1st - early 3rd centuries AD). This process is characterized by the synthesis of western and eastern elements expressed vividly in the set of female garments. Presumably, it is the synthesis of the western and eastern elements that determined the cultural identity of the Ryazan-Oka Finns’.