The Byzantine Buckle From Kvetun in Desna Valley

The paper presents the buckle of early Byzantine time from Kvetun (Trubchevsk district of Bryansk region) in Middle Desna valley (fig. 1). This find was discovered in 1947 in kurgan 1 of the southern group during the research of M. V. Voevodskyi (fig. 2). Most researchers believe that this barrow field belongs to the Kolochyn culture. However, the lack of a clear definition of the ceramic assemblage from kurgan 1 leaves open the question of its affiliation. Only few researchers considered this find, but almost without involving Central European analogies and quite often without proper arguments. In general, this buckle with cast integral plate is dated within very broad chronological limits — from the 7th — to the 9th centuries. A catalogue of such buckles which includes 7 locations (excluding the find from Kvetun) has been collected (appendix; fig. 3; 4). Not each find is a direct analogy for the buckle from Middle Desna valley. But they can be used for a general understanding of this wide range of jewelry. These analogies point to the Byzantine origin of this buckle. Moreover, their dating does not go beyond the 7th century. The buckle from kurgan 1 can also be dated to this time. That is, this complex can be correlated with the materials of the final stage of the Kolochyn culture. Although the early Byzantine finds in the Left Bank of the Dnieper are very few, but they are even fewer in the area of the Kolochyn culture. This is a find of a silver platter from Sudzha-Zamostia hoard and a fibula with returned foot from Nikodymove hill-fort. Perhaps this indicates certain regularities of the distribution of Byzantine things among the Slavs of the north-eastern part of their range, which is located too far from the borders of the Empire

Ancient history · Buckle · Byzantine architecture · Structural engineering · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Engineering · History · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts · Geology