On the Late Roman "Import" and Its Replicas on the Territory of the Upper Ob Region

The import items play the key role in the object complex by determining the chronology and vectors of interaction of various cultural traditions. On the territory of the Upper Ob region, one identified a representative set of sources including the antique numismatics, polychromic jewels, belt accessories and utensils referred to the second half of 1000 AD. One of such examples includes polychromic jewels with cabochons (Timiryazevo-1, Krokhalevka-16, Krokhalevka-23, Eraska, Ivanovka-6) dating back to the Roman prototypes of the beginning of 1000 AD. The mediated "late Roman effects" were indirectly reflected in the local ceramics of the Upper Ob region. The Rhenish reticular glass and glass cups, which were wide-spread in Eastern Europe (Icing 44), were imitated in clay on the territory of the Upper Ob region. Such a form of dishes and its conditionally transferred ornament are occasionally presented in the materials of several archeological monuments from Tomsk (Timiryazevo-1), Novosibirsk (Ivanovka-6) to Biisk (Biisk ancient settlements). On the whole, the Roman cultural heritage plays one of the key roles in forming a trans-cultural object set of Eurasia of the first half of 1000 AD. In this case, the scope of such an impact is especially clearly perceived far beyond the limits of the "Roman world", including the south of Western Siberia. One of such regions is the territory of the Upper Ob region. On this territory, there was no tradition of any wide and continuous presence of objects of the "Roman" origin. Besides, it is characterized by complete absence of any direct contacts with the bearers of the late Roman provincial culture and a considerable volume of imported goods directly related to the Roman origin. Nevertheless, an entire set of archeological materials allows putting forward a question of mediated presence of the "samples" of the "Roman circle" objects (belt buckles, polychromic jewels) and their replicas in the local ceramics. Within the framework of this object environment, a special interest is evoked by items possessing certain parallels with the late Roman samples. They may represent the mediated "import" to the local environment, including subsequent adaptation in it. The latter is clearly determined by the processes of active integration of foreign, prestigious components into the local environment. The replicas of the "late Roman" object set of the Upper Ob region are likely to date back to the samples of those objects included into the third group of the Roman import of the second half of the 2 century - first half of the 3 century AD to the Sarmatian cultural environment. The presence of these objects in the elite Upper Ob graves of the middle of 1000 AD are mostly determined by archaism of their accompanying inventory.

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