A SARMATIAN HORSE-RIDER AT THE COURT OF THE DACIAN KINGS. THE TYPOLOGY (I).

Abstract

The proposed series of papers will focus on the reinterpretation of a cheek-piece discovered in the Dacian fortress of Costești-Cetățuie during the first systematic excavations undertaken there at the beginning of the XX th c. The iron cheek-piece discovered back then presents a specificity that has not been observed before, namely what seems to be a tamga sign engraved on the exterior of the piece (Fig. 1/1). For unknown reasons, the sign was not observed during the first publication. As such, the general purpose of this effort will be to assess the inherent meaning of this sign and its implications for the typology of such horse-bits. In the first paper I will approach the typology of such cheek-pieces in the Dacian milieu and in the neighbouring western areas. In the second article of the series I will focus on the question of such cheek-pieces in the North Pontic region, as well as the presence of tamga signs on objects from the Dacian and North Pontic areas. All this will be done in order to better understand the historical context that lead to the appearance of a tamga sign on a type VIII cheek-piece in the Dacian fortress at Costești-Cetățuie.