Gold jewelry with a polychrome inlay from a princely grave dating to the second half of the 5th - 6th centuries in the Zayukovo-3 cemetery (Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria)

In 2017 catacomb No. 86 was excavated in the cemetery known as Zayukovo-3 (Baksan district, Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria). The catacomb was looted in ancient times; however, gold items with a polychrome inlay were discovered among remaining funerary offerings. Among them there was a torque with a lock shaped as a round medallion and decorated with false granulation. Two gold U-shaped hanging pendants were attached to the torque. The same association contained two gold ball-shaped hollow pendants decorated with granulation and garnet insets. These prestigious artifacts along with other items (fragments of an iron sword blade with scabbard plates, fragments of a saddle and an embossed gold belt set) suggest that a high-ranking representative of Alan aristocracy was probably buried here. It means that in the 5th-7th centuries the center of power of a ‘barbarian kingdom' which, in terms of its importance, may be compared with such sites as Brut-1, Zaragizh, Lermontovskaya Skala and other North Caucasus princely sites, was most likely located in the Baksan Gorge.