ლაზიკაში მდგარი ბიზანტიური სამხედრო დანაყოფების ეთნიკური შემადგენლობის საკითხი ახალი არქეოლოგიური მონაცემების საფუძველზე

Abstract

In 2019, during excavations near the main gate of the Nokalakevi settlement, a fragment of a two-part belt buckle (Fig. 1) was uncovered in an early medieval cultural layer beneath 6^th-century steps. The artifact preserves only the section intended for attachment to leather; the tongue and locking mechanism are missing (Fig. 2).
The preserved part of the buckle is rectangular in form, measuring 3.4 cm in height, 2.3 cm in width, and 0.4 cm in thickness. It is made of bronze and seems to have been gilded as traces of gold are visible along the edges. The buckle was decorated with colored glass inlays. The composition consists of nine sections, separated by bronze dividers, all framed by a rectangular, embossed border. The upper and lower two parts are rectangular. Though none of these parts show traces of glass. In the center, there is a rhombus-shaped inlay, surrounded by four triangular sections. Only one of these contains a dark red glass plate, while the remaining three empty triangular sections, with one showing a white residue, which is likely a trace of glue used to secure the glass. A similar residue is present inside one of the rectangular sections. This suggests that the glass was not poured into the sections but rather inserted and fixed with glue.
The buckle detail, outside the embossed frame, has three sides with 2 mm diameter holes. These holes were used to attach the buckle securely to a leather strap using metal pins. On the fourth side, there are two prongs for attaching a fastening ring.
The research revealed that a similar buckle is preserved at the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz. Renowned scholar Mechthild Schulze-Dörrlam  includes this type of buckle in her well-known catalog “Byzantine Belt Buckles and Buckle Work at the Roman-Germanic Central Museum” classifying it as type C15 (oval buckles with rectangular bronze mounts inlaid with enamel). According to M. Schulze-Dörrlam, C15 type buckles have been found in Egypt, the Eastern Mediterranean (Syria, Palestine), the western Black Sea coast, Italy, Sicily, Germany, and France. She dates this type to the late 5^th – early 6^th centuries. M. Schulze-Dörrlam also proposes that because these buckles (gilded with glass inlays) were decorated with colored glass rather than precious stones, they likely did not belong to the imperial aristocracy of Byzantium but might have been used by high-ranking foreign individuals living and serving in the Byzantine Empire, such as the Ostrogoths. She bases this theory on specific tombs where Ostrogothic warriors were buried.
Naturally, the question arises: how this part of the buckle appeared in the early medieval layer of the Nokalakevi settlement?
As known, in the coastal cities and fortresses of Lazika, from the late 1^st century onward, Roman and later Byzantine military units were stationed intermittently, depending on the changing nature of relations with Rome and Byzantium. As for the internal regions, the Byzantine army occasionally entered, for example, in the mid-5^th century or between 527-531 AD. The Byzantine military presence in the cities of Egrisi (Lazika) increased significantly in the 530s, following the conclusion of the so‑called “Eternal Peace” in 532 AD between Emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD) and the Persian king Khosrow I Anushirvan (531-579 AD). Distrusting the peace, Justinian, began preparations for war. He sent additional troops to Egrisi, where the Byzantines began strengthening cities and strongholds. The Emperor stationed garrisons in the cities and fortresses of Egrisi. During the Byzantine-Sassanid War (540-562 AD), a Byzantine force of approximately 3,000 men was stationed in the fortress of Archaeopolis. In the Byzantine army during this period, as in the earlier Roman army, the so-called “barbarian generals” played an important role. These military leaders included Armenians, Syrians, Thracians, Slavs, Germans (Herules, Goths, Gepids), and representatives from other ethnic groups.
In our opinion, the “Ostrogothic” buckle found in Nokalakevi likely belonged to a high-ranking member of the Byzantine army, probably a representative of one of the Germanic tribes (Ostrogoths, Herules, Gepids, etc.).