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The paper discusses the appearance of the Great Moravian warriors’ swords and focuses on sets of strap and belt fittings used to fasten the swords. It also comments on other elements decorating sword scabbards used in Great Moravia in the 9th and at the beginning of the 10th century. The paper analyses the composition of the sword sets known from Great Moravia in the context of a wider typology and chronology of finds from European areas under the influence of the Carolingian culture between the beginning of the 9th century and the 1st half of the 10th century.An analysis of archaeological assemblages and loose finds of sword strap fittings from entire Europe (approx. 300 items) allows defining five basic types of Carolingian sword sets used in the late Carolingian times (beginning of the 9th century – 1st half of the 10th century) in the area under the Carolingian influences. Based on the analysis, it was also possible to determine the chronology and geographical scope of certain types of sword sets. Among the five identified types, four (I, II, IV, V) are known from the former Great Moravia territory. The only exception is type III, characteristic – so far – only for the north-western areas of the Carolingian Empire. The type I chronology covers the entire 9th century, while all other types are generally dated back to the 2nd half of the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century. Detailed dating of finds can be clarified based on the ornamentation stylistics.In nearly every case, swords found in Great Moravian burials bear traces of wood suggesting that the weapons were deposited in scabbards. Based on the analysis, we were able to determine that scabbards were made of hardwood. Detailed analysis of certain finds revealed traces of fabrics and leather and, exceptionally, also fine metal elements such as small rivets or fragments of sheet metal. Commonly, scabbards were also strengthened with additional straps that also decorated the items. Those straps could have been embossed with decorative patterns.A scabbard chape from the Slovak Bojná-Valy hillfort is a unique find (Il. 8). The item was made of iron but its front side was plated with silver foil. Longer sides were inlaid with silver wire. So far, it is the only sword scabbard chape found in the Great Moravian context. The item has no contemporary analogies. It should be treated as an exceptional rarity, probably made at someone’s special request.Interestingly, in the Great Moravian context, there is no clear correlation between ornaments decorating pommels and cross-guards and the aesthetics of sets accompanying the swords – as if swords and fittings did not form a set. Moreover, swords with decorated pommels were usually not accompanied by sword sets but only by a strap-end. It seems that in Great Moravia sword sets were unpopular until the 2nd half of the 9th century when the swords with decorated pommels (types B/H and K) had been already outdated and types with undecorated pommels (type N/X and Y) became fashionable. Therefore, it seems that sword sets became popular among Great Moravian warriors in response to more modest sword decorations. Tematem artykułu jest rekonstrukcja wyglądu pochwy miecza wielkomorawskich wojowników. Autor skupia się w nim przede wszystkim na garniturach okuć rzemieni i pasów służących do przypinania miecza, ale nie pomija także innych ozdobnych elementów pochwy miecza, jakie stosowano na obszarze Wielkich Moraw w IX i na początku X w. Artykuł prezentuje głównie analizę składu garniturów mieczowych znanych z obszarów Wielkich Moraw w kontekście szerszej typologii i zagadnień chronologicznych znalezisk z obszaru Europy znajdującego się pod wpływem kultury karolińskiej między początkiem IX a pierwszą połową X w.Rozbudowane garnitury mieczowe stały się bardzo popularne na Wielkich Morawach w drugiej połowie IX w. Wtedy też zanikają miecze ze zdobionymi głowicami (B/H, K), a pojawiają się modele z głowicami niezdobionymi (N/X, Y). Możliwe zatem, że popularyzacja garniturów mieczowych wśród wielkomorawskich wojowników nastąpiła w odpowiedzi na konieczność stosowania mniej okazałej broni.

The semantic analysis of the images on the Prussian swords’ scabbard tips of the Viking Age was performed, for the first time in Russian archaeology. The spread of various subtypes of sword scabbard tips in the Prussian settlements and adjacent areas was considered. The oldest tips, subtypes KIa and Kib, were the social markers (their owners were the noble retinue) and are known only from the burial grounds of Northern Sambia, where the retinue antiquities are especially numerous. Here, the tips with a pair of birds are also commonly found. They continue the tradition of using the bird-tipped scabbards to mark the retinue members. Subtypes KIIIb and KVa of the sword scabbard tips spread to the east of Sambia in the 11th century, thereby testifying that the Western Baltic warriors tried to seize control over the local river trade routes. When the veteran warriors left the retinue because of their age, they still carried their weapons as a social marker of their status. The weapons were also used as an element of the burial inventory. In the Prussian settlements, the tips of subtype KVb, Curonian in their origin, were relatively numerous only in Sambia. A few of them were found at the archaeological sites of the Masurian Lake District. This indicates that the Western Baltic tribes shared the same cult of sacred trees and placed the tree symbols on their sword scabbard tips.

In M. F. Sumtsov Kharkiv Historical Museum archaeological collection a bronze scabbard-chape can be found, which has a form of a rhomb-shaped plug that ends with a head of a carnivorous bird. The bird’s head is conveyed by three expressive elements — an eye in the eyesocket, a beak, and a tonguelet. Chapes of such type count a bit more than twenty exemplars, which are located preferably on the Caucasus and Northern Black Sea coastal area territories. Chape was included in the so-called «Kharkiv treasure». This treasure was supposedly found by two teenagers in their yard in 1957; they gave it to the museum. The treasure is very variegated by its content and counts 236 objects of different epochs — from the Neolithic Age to the Middle Ages and modern ages. By the range of symptoms the treasure can be linked to the Archaeological exhibition opened in occupied Kharkiv in 1942 and which was demolished by the fire in February 1943. The exhibition was based on the materials of the Historical Museum collections and the Archaeological Museum of the Kharkiv University; it demonstrated as wide chronological period as the content of the «Kharkiv treasure» was — from the Stone Age to the Cossacks times. So, apparently before the war, the chape belonged to the collection of one of these museums. The loss of the accounting records of both museums prevents from determining the more precise origin of the chape. In the Archaeological exhibition remnants after the fire a bimetallic sword with an iron blade and bronze handle was also found. The sword and the chape belong to the same cultural and chronological context and are tied with each other functionally. At the same time, they are quite rare findings. It allows admitting a possible connection between them and their belonging to the same complex. Visually the Kharkiv chape is the closest to the findings from the Northern Black Sea coastal area, which allows defining the possible territory of origin of this complex, which is just hypothetic for now.

Purpose. We describe a saber from the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums (Inventory no. 4427). Results. The total length of the saber is 101.5 cm including the length of the blade 87.5 cm. When in the scabbard, the length is 106.5 cm. The grip and metal elements of the scabbard are made of gilded silver. Their surface is decorated with floral engraving. Mounts and big bezels contain pieces of turquoise and jade. The grip is inlaid with jade plates, gold and mounted rubies. We analyzed the construction and decoration of the saber and the scabbard and concluded that they were made by Ottoman masters in the first half of the 17th century. The closest analogues of the saber are stored in the Moscow Kremlin Armory, the State Hermitage Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, etc. According to the inscription on the blade, we refer the weapon to the type of insignia, which were given to Kazakh rulers who became Russian citizens and were approved as khans. A common historiographical attribution of the saber as belonging to Erali Khan (1729) has been proved wrong. According to the documents of the 18th century available, the saber initially was to be given to a famous Kazakh khan of the Middle jüz of Kazakhstan Ablai Khan (1711–1780). In 1778, the blade of the 17th century was signed in Russian and Arab, the scabbard was covered with red tissue, the gilded elements were freshened up, and a shoulder harness made of silk of two colors was added, together with a case. In the second half of 1778, the saber was delivered to the Peter and Paul Fortress of the Novyi Ishim defense line, where it was to be handed to Ablai Khan. However, due to some political disagreements he refused to accept the signs of the power, and the saber, along with other gifts, was left to be stored in the fortress. In May 1781, Ablai’s son, a newly elected Vali Khan (1744–1821), addressed Russian authorities asking them to pass him the signs of the khan’s power and Ablai’s allowance. As the insignia was to be given to the new owner, the inscription had to be changed. The saber was sent to Orenburg, where a local master changed the khan’s name and the year. During an official ceremony in the Peter and Paul Fortress, which was held on 1 November, 1782, the weapon was awarded to Vali Khan. Later on, the saber was passed on and stored by some families of noble Kazakhs. Conclusion. The saber is of a high scientific value as it is the only surviving and almost undamaged symbol of Kazakh khans’ power. It is a unique relic of Russian-Kazakh relations in the 18th century.

The paper deals to the finds from the barrow near the Shumeiko farm in the Sula river basin (now Sumy region of Ukraine) which was excavated by Sergei Mazaraki in 1899. Objects of Scythian culture were found in the mound: weapons, horse bridles, and vessels. Mikhail Rostovtsev mistakenly attributed to these finds the fragment of ancient Greek kylix of the end of the 6th century BC. Modern researchers date the barrow assemblage near the Shumeiko farm to the first half of the 6th century BC (Igor Bruyako, Denis Grechko, Denis Topal, Oleksandr Shelekhan). Sergey Polin attributes it to Early Scythian time. In the paper three precious items from the barrow are described in detail. This is a sword, the handle of which is plaqued with gold. The ancient craftsman used the granulation technique for decoration. Not only the ancient Greek jewelers used this technique. The masters of Urartu applied it as well. It was used in the decoration of the sword from the Kelermes barrow in the Kuban region, as well as on various adornments. The iron sword has an original shape and belongs to the Shumeiko type (according to Denis Topal, Oleksandr Shelekhan). Such swords were most common in the first half of the 6th century BC. The scabbard was decorated by the gold plate with images of animals and the gold tip. The analysis shows that the images of wild goats and predators are made in the early Scythian animal style. The sheath tip also corresponds to the early Scythian tradition and finds analogies in the Pre-Scythian time. On the contrary, at a later time (the end of the 6th — beginning of the 5th century BC), according to other principles (barrow No 6 near the Oleksandrivka village, Gostra Mogyla near the Tomakovka village) the tips of the scabbard were made. Near the sword the gold plate in the form of a running hare was found. It was made in the Scythian animal style. This plate was probably part of the sheath decor and adorned a side leather ledge that helped to attach the scabbard to the belt. A preliminary conclusion is made about the belonging of precious items from the Shumeiko barrow to the Kelermes horizon of antiquities of the Early Scythian culture.

The article introduces an assemblage from a child burial discovered in the central Gydan Peninsula, Tazovsky District, YamalNenets Autonomous Okrug. Little is known about the archaeological past of Arctic Western Siberia, and these fi nds are relevant to the study of the medieval period of that area. Medieval burials were studied only in the adjacent peninsula of Yamal. The discovery of the burial is described in detail. It was exposed owing to soil eolation. Artifacts were redeposited, and virtually the entire skeleton was missing. In a lump of soil stuck to the metal bowl, a few bone fragments and hair was found. Their analysis suggests that the individual was an infant aged 1–3. The assemblage includes an imported bronze bowl, a bronze haft of a knife, a scabbard, and a silver earring. The bowl, made of tin bronze, was apparently manufactured in eastern Iran or Central Asia in the 10th or 11th century. The haft and the scabbard, judging by the type and technology, belonged to a category of artifacts that were common in the Lower Ob basin, the southern Yamal, and the Ural in the late fi rst and early second millennia. On the basis of the results of X-ray fl uorescence analysis, we assess the chemical composition of the metal of which all those artifacts are made. The decorated fragment of a clay vessel is attributed to the Tiutey-Sale variant (800–1300 AD) of the Lower Ob culture. The totality of indicators suggests a date between 900 and 1100 AD. We conclude that the tundra areas of the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas were colonized by migrants from the northern taiga zone of Western Siberia.

The article introduces an assemblage from a child burial discovered in the central Gydan Peninsula, Tazovsky District, YamalNenets Autonomous Okrug. Little is known about the archaeological past of Arctic Western Siberia, and these fi nds are relevant to the study of the medieval period of that area. Medieval burials were studied only in the adjacent peninsula of Yamal. The discovery of the burial is described in detail. It was exposed owing to soil eolation. Artifacts were redeposited, and virtually the entire skeleton was missing. In a lump of soil stuck to the metal bowl, a few bone fragments and hair was found. Their analysis suggests that the individual was an infant aged 1–3. The assemblage includes an imported bronze bowl, a bronze haft of a knife, a scabbard, and a silver earring. The bowl, made of tin bronze, was apparently manufactured in eastern Iran or Central Asia in the 10th or 11th century. The haft and the scabbard, judging by the type and technology, belonged to a category of artifacts that were common in the Lower Ob basin, the southern Yamal, and the Ural in the late fi rst and early second millennia. On the basis of the results of X-ray fl uorescence analysis, we assess the chemical composition of the metal of which all those artifacts are made. The decorated fragment of a clay vessel is attributed to the Tiutey-Sale variant (800–1300 AD) of the Lower Ob culture. The totality of indicators suggests a date between 900 and 1100 AD. We conclude that the tundra areas of the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas were colonized by migrants from the northern taiga zone of Western Siberia.

In this study, a series of Tisna's coins dated to the 4th century BC are discussed. It is known that Tisna, a less known city of Aiolis which is one of the important Iron Age cultural regions of Western Anatolia, gained polis status in the 4th century BC. The archaeological surveys we have been continuing in the site proved that Tisna was inhabited since the end of the 3rd millennium BC. An item depicted in the coins, which are among the most important finds of the city, constitutes the main subject of this study. This item was often described as a sword or a scabbard in previous publications. However, when the object is examined iconographically, it is surprising that it is actually a Scythian-Persian sword, akinakes. As a result of our examinations and comparisons it has been suggested that coins with depiction of akinakes may be related to both Persian identity in the region and the cult of Ares.

This article focuses on Parthian daggers. A common dagger type among Parthian elite’s arms was the ring-pommel dagger worn in an elaborate scabbard. In the iconography of monuments in the Parthian Empire (including the sites of Shami, Susa, Hatra, Dura Europos and Ashur), daggers in sheaths attached with straps to the thigh are depicted on a number of reliefs. Coin depictions suggest that the Parthians adopted ring-pommel daggers and medallion-scabbards as royal emblems in the first half of the first century B.C. at the latest.

In 2016, an Early Medieval sword scabbard chape was handed over to the Museum of Kostrzyn Fortress. According to the person submitting it, it was found about 5-6 years earlier in the northern part of Kostrzyn nad Odrą. The main decorative motif of the openwork field is a heraldically arranged bird. The closest analogies to the chape in question are dated to the second half of the 10th and 11th century. Artefacts of this type could have been produced in Scandinavia, but also in the Rus and Baltic areas. Unfortunately, we are not able to say what raw material was used to cast the artefact in question. An analysis of the metal composition of the find carried out on the surface of the artefact demonstrated that a very heterogeneous lead alloy was used, which could have also been a result of lead-bleaching. The same technology was also observed on the chapes from Ruthenia. Scholars have explained the presence of an ornithomorphic motif on the surface of the artefact in various ways

International audience; Unearthing a weapon in an ancient mining area during an excavation is very unlikely. The discovery made at Castel-Minier is even more important since its stratigraphical context is well characterized, dating from the 15th century. This ear-dagger of an uncommon type, found along with its scabbard, differs greatly from those known in the museum collections by its sobriety. An archaeometric study was carried out focusing on the chemical characterization of its distinct components, putting in light the choice of the assembled materials (wood, gold, lead and copper alloys). Beyond the purpose of this dagger lost in a 15th century silver mine, its study makes it possible to see for the first time a Catalan area ear dagger produced for a regional market; Il est peu commun de mettre au jour de l'armement dans un contexte archéologique minier. La découverte faite à Castel-Minier est d'autant plus importante qu'elle est intervenue dans un contexte archéologique maitrisé. Elle met en lumière une dague à oreilles de la fin du XV e siècle qui diffère largement de celles connues dans les collections par sa sobriété. C'est la première fois que cet équipement offensif est découvert en contexte archéologique. Au-delà de la raison d'être de ce poignard dans une mine d'argent au XV e siècle, son étude permet de mettre en lumière pour la première fois une dague à oreilles de facture catalane destinée à un marché bien différent de celui des exemplaires connus dans la bibliographie.

This paper presents the results of studies and technological analyses of a fragment of the fittings from the lower part of a sword scabbard discovered in 2016 at the stronghold in Santok, Wielkopolska, Poland. The chape represents the type in widespread use across the Baltic lands in the second half of the tenth century and the early eleventh century AD, yet its embellishments are the subject of debate. According to some researchers, the scene shows Odin with his attributes or birds. Others believe that it depicts the sacrifice of Odin, similar to that of the crucified Christ, or the fight between the hero and the monsters. The chape was made of copper alloy, but its chemical composition is unusual, with very high levels of lead. This indicates the conscious and purposeful use of alloys with specific properties. Until now, only about 1% of such artefacts have been subjected to technological analyses, and further research is necessary to confirm standardization regularities in their production process.

Thirty-two out of 88 pieces (36.4%) in the collection of “Thessalian antiquities” found in Velestino are, or contain, representations of humans. Ten pieces of the Velestino collection contain images of children. In three of them, the child is shown together with an animal, probably a wolf. Two other children appear on pieces showing a human leaping to the right, possibly an illustration of the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth (Luke 1:44). Three other pieces show a man holding crotales, while another two have seraphs. Two warriors on horseback, another on foot, carrying a scabbard or a quiver, a dancing woman, another giving birth and a standing human in a pensive posture show the diversity of the human or human-like figures. There are also three figures with monastic cowls, possibly a representation of the Church Fathers, as well as an image of St. Christopher with a dog head. Finally, there is a musician playing a trumpet-like instrument. The chapter explores the analogies for all those figures.

At the site of Hillside Farm, Bryher, on the Isles of Scilly, a materially rich single Iron Age inhumation was discovered containing the unsexable fragmented remains of one adult with a number of high-quality metal grave goods including an iron sword with a bronze scabbard and a bronze mirror. Swords and mirrors have long been considered high-status, oppositionally gendered grave goods that crosscut regional divisions in the pre-Roman British Iron Age (c. 800 B.C.–A.D. 43). Their combined presence within the burial of a single individual represents a touchstone within the ongoing unraveling of a long-held, interconnected set of reified binary sex and gender assumptions that have permeated discussions of British Iron Age mortuary contexts. In better recognizing this web of “binary binds,” we can deconstruct the a priori, exclusionary, interconnected sex and gender assumptions that configure how we investigate the terms of engagement between materials and persons in these burial contexts. Crucial to this analysis is an approach to patterning that (1) does not begin with a search for sex and gender as evidence of male and female dichotomies, (2) sees the potentiality for any component of a mortuary assemblage to have multiple points of significance, and (3) embraces data ambiguity. Developing such critical approaches will ultimately contribute to the deployment of more inclusive forms of analysis that do not reify sex and gender as the primary organizing principles within mortuary contexts, aiding scholars in avoiding assumptions that bind sex and gender analyses into artificially binary paradigms.

The Attic, Peloponnesus and Asia Minor monumental sculpture of the 5th and 4th centuries BC such as reliefs of Parthenon, temple of Athena Nike, Erechtheum, attic gravestones, reliefs of temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae, Heroon of Gjolbaschi, the Nereid Monument at Xanthos and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, are recognized in the research as iconographic prototypes of the images of Chertomlyk and Vergina group scabbard and gorytos decoration. What is more, there are a few consistencies of these adoptions. First of all, craftsmen could both replicate iconographic scheme and loosely treat gures in adopted motives. Roles of characters and circumstances of their depiction remain the same, as well as their a liation with Greeks or barbarians, although the same iconography was used for depicting gures of Amazons on monumental sculpture and male gures on toreutic pieces. In addition, cra smen had to take into account a “non-Greek” attitude of barbarian customers to nude gures.

The soldering techniques used in ancient goldwork are of great interesting for scholars from various disciplines. In this paper, the soldering techniques of the 3rd to 5th century CE gold artefacts from the Boma site in Xinijang are investigated based on micro-analysis of cross-section samples. The results show that Au-Ag-Cu ternary alloy with high silver and copper content was used as solder material for connecting gold wire onto the arm armor, while copper salt bonding was used for the granulation of the finger ring and scabbard. The unusually slight compositional differences in the joining areas of the Boma granulation samples remind us of their complicated heat treatment, a crucial aspect for the understanding of ancient goldsmithing to which more attention needs to be paid.

Scabbard is the sheath used for covering swords, knives or other large blades. A scabbard trachea is called so because of its resemblance of shape (Fig. 1) caused by lateral compression usually by thyroid enlargement. Here we present such a case depicting the radiological findings of a scabbard trachea.

During the reorganization of the prehistoric section of the Bern Historical Museum a chance discovery was made by the writer of the present article. While a fragment of a La Téne sword (without inventory number) was being treated, it was suspected that a punch-mark might be concealed beneath the scabbard, which was rusted on to the sword. The rusty remains were removed, so that the blade could be examined in an oblique light. Most surprisingly there was revealed not only what subsequently proved to be a well preserved punch-mark but also, beside it, a Greek inscription! After taking a photograph of it in its original state the remains of the scabbard were removed, and a single letter of the inscription that was covered by rust was cleaned (PLATE VIII, B, C).

A risk–benefit assessment was performed in two marine resources of great importance in Southern Europe, i.e. black scabbard fish (Aphanopus carbo) and edible crab (Cancer pagurus), by determining the intake of Methyl-Hg, Cd, Se and EPA + DHA through the consumption of these species, as well as the associated probability of exceeding the tolerable weekly intakes (TWI; for Methyl-Hg and Cd) or dietary reference intakes (DRI; for Se and EPA + DHA). Average weekly intakes (AWI) were estimated by combination of the consumption frequencies in the Portuguese population and the concentration of each constituent. To estimate probabilities, two estimators were used: plug-in (PI) for higher probabilities and tail estimation (TE) based on the application of the extreme value theory to intakes distribution curves for lower probabilities. It was found that edible crab's white meat (meat from claws and legs) can be included on a well balanced diet, but black scabbard fish and edible crab's brown meat (mixture of gonads and hepatopancreas) should be consumed parsimoniously by adults and children.

Abstract In the Sighnaghi museum there is a bronze bouterolle found by chance during earthworks in the village of Patardzeuli in Kakhetia (Eastern Georgia). This cast bronze object in the shape of a rhyton and 12 cm long is the terminal of a wooden dagger sheath (or a wooden one once covered in leather). The terminal tapers evenly downwards and then broadens out to one side with a curved open-work detail representing a highly stylized depiction of a bird’s head: it consists of an imitation of a delicate spiral resembling a curved beak, while the eye is conveyed by a round knob positioned on the main part of the terminal next to the lateral detail. There are two rows of round knobs around the top rim of the bouterolle: between them there are two holes on each side of the object passing right through it, thus allowing it to be attached to the wood. Objects of this category have been recorded in various versions in the Caucasus and in modified versions outside. In places, where a context for such finds has made it possible, the period during which they were used has been defined as the second half of the 7th and the 6th century BC. Mapping of such finds indicates that the area of distribution for these terminals is confined mainly to the Northern Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Although heads of birds of prey with their clearly defined large eyes and large curved beaks are one of the most popular motifs in the repertoire of the Animal Style of the Scythians, bouterolles of the type in question are not found in Scythian culture as such. An exception is the terminal from Repyakhovataya Mogila, which in its shape, manner of execution and proportions stands out from the rest and has been classified as a Scythian variant of the Caucasian bouterolles. Our research has led us to conclude that the fashioning of the scabbard chape in the shape of a bird’s head can be traced back to the practice of a local tradition in the Caucasus. We suggest that on the bouterolle from Patardzeuli, as for the other terminals from this series, the widely known motif of a bird’s head has been interpreted in a specific style intrinsic only to these objects, which gave rise to this special form of terminal. All the features, which set this group apart from artefacts of Scythian type from the same period, make it possible to conclude that bronze bouterolles of the type examined here represent a phenomenon from the Caucasus.

La tombe de Thoutmosis IV (KV 43), fouillée au début du xxe siècle par Howard Carter, a livré deux fragments de fourreaux en cuir attestant vraisemblablement de la présence de poignards au sein du mobilier funéraire de ce roi de la XVIIIe dynastie. La présente note suggère, après une courte description de ces deux objets publiés une première fois en 1904, de les rapprocher d'un type de poignards particulier découvert surtout dans la ville nubienne de Kerma. Une discussion sur les raisons qui ont pu amener un roi de la XVIIIe dynastie à emporter des poignards nubiens dans sa tombe est ensuite proposée. The tomb of Thutmose IV (KV 43), excavated in the early twentieth century by Howard Carter, contained two leather-scabbard fragments, which probably attested to the presence of daggers among the grave goods of the 18th-dynasty king. The present article suggests, after a short description of the two objects published for the first time in 1904, that they are similar to a particular type of dagger discovered in the Nubian city of Kerma in particular. A discussion of the reasons that might have led an 18th-century king to take Nubian daggers to the grave with him follows.

Статья посвящена своеобразным изделиям пазырыкской культуры Горного Алтая – уменьшенным копиям бронзовых кинжалов, помещенным в полноразмерные деревянные ножны. В качествеосновного источника послужили серия находок таких кинжалов (всего 10 экз.) из курганов скифского времени (V–III вв. до н.э.) долины Узунтал (раскопки автора 1971–1973 гг.), а также большинство известных в настоящее время подобных изделий из других могильников Горного Алтая (более100 экз.). Средние размеры таких кинжалов – от 14,5–15 до 19,5–20 см; встречаются и более мелкиеобразцы (до 10–12 см). Длина же «настоящих» боевых кинжалов может достигать 35–40 см, но неменее 30 см. О назначении их уменьшенных воспроизведений как культовых изделий уже высказывались различные точки зрения. Ключевым моментом для выяснения причин вотивизации данныхпредметов, по мнению автора, может служить в первую очередь несоответствие размеров кинжалов-«вкладышей» и полномасштабных ножен, благодаря чему с внешней стороны такой кинжал на поясепогребенного выглядел как настоящий. Скорее всего, помещенная таким образом имитация – двойник (душа?) кинжала – была предназначена для его последующей реинкарнации, в то время как самкинжал мог оставаться в социуме как своего рода «гарантия» или для дальнейшего употребления., The article deals with the peculiar artifacts of Pazyryk culture of the Altai Mountains, the scaled-down copies of bronze daggers, placed in full-size wooden scabbards. A series of 10 daggers from the Uzuntal valley burial-mounds of Scythian period (5th- 3rdcenturies BC) excavated by the author in 1971-1973 as well as most of such objects (more than one hundred specimens) from other burials of the Altai Mountains known nowadays became the main source for this research. Average length of the daggers varies from 14,5-15 to 19,5-20 cm, there are also smaller ones (10-12 cm) while average length of battle daggers reaches 35-40 cm, but no less than 30 cm. Thus, there have been already diverse opinions expressed on the religious significance of scaled-down daggers. According to the author, the discrepancy in size between “insert” daggers and full-sized wooden scabbards is the key point in explaining the votive nature of these pieces: hanging on the belt of the buried deceased, such «insert» dagger looked real due to scabbard - this imitation (twin or soul? of a dagger) was probably intended for reincarnation while the ordinary dagger was left in the society as a kind of “guaranty” or for further use.

‘No sane man can believe, that a woman of average height and strength, and not overcome by drugs, could be violated by one man’.1 These were the words of gynaecologist Lawson Tait in an 1894 article on sexual offences against females. Tait used knowledge of the ‘average’ woman’s body to justify the expectation that she could, and should, fight off an attempted offence. His work suggests that he was more cynical than most of his peers, as he published widely about the prevalence of false claims in rape trials, but was not alone in believing in a normal woman’s capacity to resist. The Medical Press had published similar comments in July 1890: ‘[g]enerally speaking, few medical men of experience believe much in rape in the case of a moderately healthy and vigorous woman’.2 Such claims were grounded in the belief that a man could not achieve penetration of a woman who resisted to her utmost, as articulated through the rape myth that it was ‘impossible to sheath a sword into a vibrating scabbard’.3 As late as 1913 the US Police Surgeon Gurney Williams pointed out in International Clinics, published in London and Philadelphia, that mere ‘crossing of the knees’ would prevent rape.4

The dynamics of a vibrating string subjected to a constraint at one boundary is investigated in this paper. The constraint is applied by a scabbard that moves a small distance along the mean position of the string. The scabbard is moved instantaneously such that the position and the velocity of the string outside the scabbard is unaffected immediately after application of the constraint, whereas the length of the string covered by the scabbard is brought to rest. The constraint is removed by moving the scabbard back to its original position and the change in energy of the string is investigated for different values of scabbard travel distance and time of application of the constraint. Analytical and numerical simulation results are first provided for the string vibrating in the first mode, and then for a more general case where the string has arbitrary initial conditions. The results show that the energy of the string can increase or decrease depending on the time of application of the constraint for a given distance of travel of the scabbard. This provides the opportunity for active control of vibration of the string through direct physical interaction, using the scabbard as an actuator. A simple feedback control strategy is proposed and numerical simulation results are presented. These results indicate that although removal of the constraint does not change the energy of the string, the effectiveness of the control strategy depends on the time of removal of the constraint.

The article touches upon the late La Tène scabbard with open work decoration from the Przeworsk burial n. 3 of the Gryniv cemetery (Upper Dniester area). It is pointed out that the Gryniv scabbard belongs to the same art style as the Gundestrup cauldron. The scabbard was made using the La Tène metalworking tradition, while its decoration demonstrates mainly a mixture of the Celtic and Thracian art practices and religious beliefs. It’s emergence in the Upper Dniester area may be explained as a result of the Bastarnae raid in Thracia in 29 BC. The artifact reflects complicated cultural interactions in late La Tene Central Europe in which Celtic, Germanic, Thracian and possibly Proto-Slavic groups were involved. Also it marks one of the possible ways from the Balkans to the Jutland which had been passed by the Gundestrup cauldron itself.

During excavation, the splendid scabbard of a Monte Bernorio dagger, made of iron and decorated with silver, was found carefully placed near the base of a clay seat inside a house in the city of Las Quintanas, in Pintia. Although the typological characteristics of the dagger date it to the 4th Century B.C., the dating of the house to the 1st Century A.D. suggests we are in the presence of a true relic, inherited through generations until its definitive interment at a time when the Vaccaean culture was undergoing a process of ‘dilution,’ being integrated in the effective Romanization of the area of the River Duero basin.Una espléndida vaina de hierro damasquinada en plata, correspondiente al modelo de puñal Monte Bernorio, cuyas características tipológicas remontan la pieza al siglo IV a.C., apareció, en proceso de excavación, cuidadosamente depositada junto a la base del banco de tapial de una vivienda de la ciudad de Las Quintanas, de Pintia. La casa se data, sin embargo en el siglo I d.C. En consecuencia, nos hallamos ante una verdadera reliquia que pasó de mano en mano a lo largo de generaciones, hasta su definitiva amortización en un momento en el que la cultura vaccea se diluía o, si se prefiere, se integraba en la romanización efectiva de este territorio central de la Cuenca del Duero.

In 2002 several chambergraves from the 10 th century were excavated in the old town of Kiev. The richest equipped female grave — chambergrave No. 49, 1999 — from beneath the St. Michael’s Golden Domes from the city of Izyaslaus/Izjaslavs and the most important of the male chambergraves from the city of Vladimir are focused in this article. The breast jewellery and a round filigree decorated brooch from the female grave as well as the sword with its scabbard’s chape and the metal fittings of a leather bag from the male grave are taken into special consideration. Concerning construction and equipment a close connection to the chambergraves from Birka can be detected. The dead belonged to a leading person subgroup which via Scandinavia got into contact with west European Christianity.

Total mercury, cadmium and lead concentrations were measured in black scabbard fish (Aphanopus carbo), caught off Madeira and the Azores archipelagos (Portugal). The metal contents were expressed in mg kg(-1) wet weight. The mean mercury levels in liver were 4.50 and 2.37 whereas, in skin, such values were 0.59 and 0.36 (Madeira and Azores, respectively). Onaverage, the muscle content was around 0.9 in fish from both areas. Cadmium maximum levels in muscle and skin were found in Azores samples (0.09 and 0.11, respectively). Mean lead contents in all samples were always below than 0.10. In general, the results obtained did not allow the establishment of any relationship between metal accumulation and fish weight or length. According to the permissible WHO and FAO levels, these results, suggest that this species does not represent a risk for human consumption if the liver is excluded and the edible part consumed with moderation. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The cemetery in Sadzarzewice (former Sadersdorf) is one of the most important archaeological sites in Lower Lusatia and it dates back to the pre-Roman and Roman iron ages. It was included into the Luboszyce culture by Grzegorz Domanski in his work from 1979. Along with two other cemeteries, located nearby in Grabice and Luboszyce, the Sadzarzewice complex constitutes the oldest chronological horizon of this taxonomic group, and the region is regarded as the starting point of its later expansion. Despite the site’s great significance for the prehistory studies of the Oder basin, its state of study is far from satisfactory. This is mostly due to the fact it was discovered and explored at the end of the XIXth century, that is in the time archaeological methods were still in development. Further complication was caused by the history of the region – nearly all of the artifacts were lost during WWII, and as an effect, the cemetery’s inventory is known only from a publication dating back to 1895. Nevertheless, during my research for my dissertation on the armament of the Luboszyce culture, I managed to identify a couple of those lost finds. This small group consisted of an ornamented spearhead, an untypical javelin- or arrowhead, and a shield grip. The total number of Roman iron age weapon and equestrian equipment finds from the cemetery is 41 – 4 swords, 2 sword scabbard belt loops, 2 axes, 6 spearheads, 2 javelin heads, 7 arrowheads, 4 shield bosses, 2 shield grips and 12 spurs. The artifacts from Sadzarzewice fit into the phase B2b–C2 (late 2nd–3rd cent. A.D.) range. Those weapons that were possible to date with considerable precision can be situated within the phase C1, some even can be as old as B2b, although there is no certain evidence of such early chronology. Another notable feature of the Sadzarzewice artifacts is the evidence of various interregional influences – either from the West (the Elbian circle) and East (the Wielbark and Przeworsk cultures) which phenomenon, although characteristic for the Luboszyce culture in general, is best observed in the early stages of this unit’s development.