Origins And Cultural Contacts 323
Contemporary with this, sabres also appeared along the river Kuban in the
Pontic region.121 However, all known edged weapons of the Voznesenka hori-
zon of Ukraine are straight, single-edged swords.122
The northwestern part of the Caucasus mountains is rich in evidence
for these early sabres, and according to the studies of U. Iu. Kochkarov they
appearead during the 8th century in this region. These blades are slightly
curved and relatively short compared to the so-called ‘Late Nomadic’ sabres of
the 12th–13th century. The earliest example was found in grave No. 248 at the
Diurso cemetery, this sabre with slightly curved blade being equipped with a
rhombic crossguard and P-shaped suspension loops, and is dated to the late
7th–early 8th century.123
The main attribute of the sabres, the curved blade, appeared in Eastern
Europe relatively early but still around 20–30 years later than in the Carpathian
Basin. A more robust and detailed chronological sequence for these develop-
ments has yet to be achieved, and therefore the current chronological scheme
only reflects the present state of research.
1.4.1.3 Crossguard
Star-shaped crossguards appeared at the same time in the Carpathian Basin
and Eastern Europe, during the second half of the 7th century, having simi-
lar forms and technical features. Star-shaped crossguards covered with gold
foils are known from the finds of Voznesenka, Iasinova and Glodosy. Three
single-edged swords were found in the Voznesenka complex, two of which
bear short rhombic crossguards with ‘onion-shaped ends’ covered with gold
foil.124 The Voznesenka find was identified with a sacrificial site and linked to
the Eastern European appearance of the Khazars by Anatolij Ambroz125 and
Oleksij Komar.126 They dated this complex to the middle or second half of the
7th century.127
121 Sorokina 2001, 63. 219. Ris. 23.
122 Smilenko 1965, T. VI. 2; Komar – Sukhobokov 2000. http://archaeology.kiev.ua/journal/
020300/komar_sukhobokov.htm; Komar 2006, 89.
123 Kochkarov 2008, 34–35.
124 Komar – Sukhobokov 2000. http://archaeology.kiev.ua/journal/020300/komar_sukho
bokov.htm; Komar 2006, 89.
125 Ambroz (1982, 212–220) first drew attention to its offering-character based on Inner Asian
analogies, and linked it to the appearance of the Khazars.
126 Komar 2006, 10. 238; Gavritukhin 2005, 406–411; Gavritukhin 2008, 82–85.
127 Komar (2006, 85–87) dated it to the end of the 7th–beginning of the 8th century by the
granulated decoration of the belt mounts.