The cache in a late classical vault in Phanagoria

The paper contains a preliminary report on a cache from the Late Classical vault in Phanagoria. A deep ground vault dating from the end of the 4th - first half of the 5th centuries was excavated in the Eastern cemetery in 2019. It had two burial chambers one of which was preserved intact. It yielded seven burials in wooden coffins with rich funerary assemblages including gold jewelry. A hiding place was found beneath the floor of a vault chamber. It contained a long horse rider's sword with a gold pommel on a long wooden hilt. There were elements of warrior's armor lying near the sword. This prestigious weapon with a typical pommel has an oriental origin and belongs to the group of Iranian swords of the early Sasanid tradition. Such swords with very long hilts can be seen on the paintings of Sasanid rulers. The weapon from this cache is unique for the Asian Bosporan Kingdom of the Migration Period. The closest analogies have been found in a hiding place of vault 145 in the Panticapaeum cemetery. Similar weapons come from the sites located in the northern Black Sea region, the northern Caucasus, and the Urals region. The Phanagoria sword is another evidence of cultural links that the Bosporan Kingdom maintained not only with the Eastern Roman Empire but also with the Sasanid Empire.