Post-Hun Tanais and the Onoghurs

Tanais is an ancient Greek city in the Don river delta that was devastated by the barbarians around 251. During the Hun period (the last third of the 4th – the middle of the 5th centuries) a fortified settlement occupied by heterogenous sedentary population as well as a necropolis appeared on the ruins of the ancient Greek city. Most likely, this settlement served as a winter camp of steppe nomads, and, probably, a center of power. For a long time the settlement in Tanais was believed to have ceased to exist at the end of the Hun period (450s–460s). However, recent publications on the Tanais necropolis provide evidence of graves from the post-Hun period (450/460s–530/550s), and, consequently, graves of the settlement. A «princely» necropolis of the post-Hun nomads has been recently discovered in Morskoy Chulek not far from Tanais. Presumably, like in the preceding period, Tanais was inhabited by sedentary population whereas nomads used it as a winter camp. Given the proximity of the ‘princely’ Morskoy Chulek cemetery, most likely, Tanais was one of the steppe centers of power and, probably, the main residence of the Onoghur chieftains.