La Mediterranee dans le Barbaricum : les tombes privilegiees du Bosphore Cimmerien a l’epoque post-hunnique (deuxieme moitie du Ve-premiere moitie du VIe siecle)

International audienceThe Mediterranean in Barbaricum: the privileged burials of CimmerianBosphorus in the post-Hunnic period (second half of the5th-first half of the 6thcenturies).During the second half of the fifth and the early sixth century, a restrictednumber of tombs appear in the Cimmerian Bosphorus containingceremonial weapons, harnesses and tack for horses and articles of maleclothing: swords, horse bits and buckles (Kerch, tombs 163.1904 and6.1905; Djurga-Oba, tomb 40; Taman peninsula, tomb of 1912).Similarly, there are female burials with items of luxury clothing (Djurga-Oba, tomb 40). These prestige artefacts show that these burialsbelong to individuals who were members of the ruling class of theregion in the period following the break-up of Hunnic power. Similartombs from the same chronological phase have emerged in central andwestern Europe and reflect the “princely” nature of the “barbarian”kingdoms in the Early Middle Ages. Even older aristocratic burials(late fourth-early fifth century) have also been found in the CimmerianBosphorus which show the cultural continuity of the local aristocracyduring the period of the Great Migrations.Keywords: Cimmerian Bosphorus, post-Hunnic period, aristocraticburials, weapons, harnesses and tack for horses; articles of luxuryclothing