Abstract
The article analyzes the defensive weapons found on the territory of the Bosporan Kingdom and related to the mid-3rd to the fi rst quarter of the 6th century AD). The author also attempts to reconstruct the image of the Late Bosporan warrior. First of all, the author obervers the helmets that are represented on the Bosporus by the Spangelhelm type or other similar frame helmets. Among the types of body protection, the author notes fragments of scaly, combined, lamellar and lamellar shells. A special group includes fragments of chain mail that predominate over all discovered types of breast protection. The point of view is put forward that chain mail was the most popular type of breast protection of noble Late Bosporan warriors. At the same time, most of the Late Bosporan army either did not wear breast protection at all, or used leather armor. An important element of the defensive armament of the late antique warrior on the Bosporus was the shield, represented by the fi nds of bosses (umbos) and pens. The bosses found on the Bosporus are of typologically Goth type, which indicates a strong Goth infl uence on the Late Bosporan military affairs. Thus, the complex of defensive weapons of the Bosporan military elite is a symbiosis of the Sarmatian-Alan and Goth equipment, forming the Goth-Alan complex. Such defensive weapons have dominated in the Bosporus since the mid-3rd century AD. Starting from the mid-5th century AD, Hunnic and Turkic features begin to be traced in the complex, which was the result of mass migrations of nomads to the Northern Black Sea Region. The bulk of the army either had no defensive weapons at all, or wore leather equipment.
Keywords
Late Bosporus, military affairs, defensive weapons, Goths, nomads.
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