Imports from burials of the Tarasovo burial ground of the second half of the 3rd century AD as a source of information about the military campaigns of the population of the Middle Kama region

In the second half of the 3rd century AD on the territory of the Tarasovo burial ground located on the right bank of the Kama river, not far from the Tarasovo village, Burials No. 6 and 782 were left in the Tarasovo Sarapul District of the Udmurt Republic. The burials are of interest due to the fact that the social status of the deceased was emphasized by the presence of not only swords, but also helmets in the burial inventory. The aim of this article is to consider the possible reasons for the appearance in Burials No. no. 6 and 782 of helmets as parts of burial inventory and identify their origin. To achieve this aim, materials from the excavations of the Tarasovo, Niva and Ust-Sarapulskoe burial grounds of the Mazuni culture of the population of the Middle Kama region and materials of excavations of the Sarmatian monuments of the Southern Cis-Urals, the Black Sea region, the North Caucasus are used. The use of the analogy method allows establishing that helmets from Burials No. 6 and 782 correspond in design to helmets used by the military formations of the Sarmatians, the Kingdoms of Kushan and Parthia, and by the Roman troops. The data of anthropological studies suggest that men buried in the graves of interest in the Tarasovo burial ground died at the age of 17 to 20 years. Based on the methods of paleosociological research, it is possible to conclude that the deceased were not leaders, but they owned some of the richest male burial complexes of the Tarasovo burial ground. Within the framework of the article, the possibility of the acquisition of segmental and openwork helmets is considered as a result of trade contacts with craft and trade centers in Central Asia or the Black Sea region. Considering the distance between the Middle Kama and these regions, the lack of opportunity for the Mazuni population to organize the supply of grain and slaves in significant volumes, the author concludes that such trade is unlikely. The version of the appearance of helmets as part of the property of migrants is refuted by the absence of significant changes in funeral rituals among the population of the Middle Kama region in the second half of the 3rd century. As the main version of the appearance of helmets in Burials No. 6 and 782, the possibility of long-range military campaigns by the population of the Middle Kama region as part of the Sarmatian squads of the Southern Urals is considered. During these campaigns, helmets and other imports were acquired as trophies or as payment for service, which became part of the burial inventory. Participation in hostilities can explain the acquisition of the social status that led to a violation of the regulation of the funeral rite, which manifested itself in burying protective weapons with the deceased. In a similar way, items of status weapons could be obtained, which were discovered during the excavations of the Niva and Ust-Sarapulskoe burial grounds. Long-distance military campaigns can be considered as one of the channels for the supply of imports to the population of the Kama region in the first half of the 1st millennium AD.

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