Late Ryazan-Oka cross-shaped fibulae and their role in the system of social hierarchy markers

The study covers graves with the latest versions of the Ryazan-Oka crossshaped fibulae coming from the cemeteries of Borok II and Korablino in the Ryazan OkaRiver Region (Fig. 1-3). Fibulae are quite common in the graves of high status individualsdated to the Hun and post-Hun period. In the 6th century this tradition disappeared asthe Ryazan-Oka Finns' warrior culture of different groups became more standardized.Finds dating to the turn of the 7th century (Korablino, Mys I, grave 81) and the first half -third quarter of the 7th century (Borok II, grave 95) demonstrate a revival of this custom.Later fibulae differ from the earlier ones typologically, which may have been caused bya 100 year pause. It might be assumed that in later periods fibulae carried a somewhatdifferent symbolic meaning as the status of a chieftain in a separate group was denotedby silver-plated ring fastenings, while fibulae were discovered both in a grave with richfuneral assemblage (Borok II, grave 95) and a more modest grave (Korablino, Mys I,grave 81). In the view of the author, to determine the role of these artifacts in the system ofsocial hierarchy attributes, it is necessary to study all prestige item groups from the malesubculture as well as changes over time in cultural contacts with the population inhabitingthe forest-steppe and the steppe areas, via which new items of the East European ‘militaryfashion' such as heraldic belts, prestige weapons and horse bridle details, items of theMediterranean origin reached the Oka Region.