ЭЛЕМЕНТЫ КОНСКОГО СНАРЯЖЕНИЯ ПОСТ-ГУННСКОГО ВРЕМЕНИ НА СЕВЕРНОМ КАВКАЗЕ И ИХ ПАРАЛЛЕЛИ НА ОКРАИНАХ СТЕПИ

On the archaeological sites of the North Caucasus for the post-Hunnic Period (the so-called horizon of Shupovo, mid-V – mid-VI centuries AD), a number of indicative elements of horse equipment — bits, buckles, strap appliques, and metal appliques for saddles — were revealed. The same things are recorded in settled barbarians on the boundary of the nomadic steppe. Moreover, with the exception of saddle appliques, they are absent in the burials of the steppe nomads of the same time (Huns, Bulgarians, Ugrians). Nevertheless, it seems that the distribution of horse equipment is evidence of the spread of a kind of "military" fashion, primarily in the "leader" environment of sedentary barbarians, culturally, and maybe politically oriented to the nomadic steppe. The latter circumstance can explain the distribution of the things examined here primarily in the borderlands of the Great Steppe Belt. We can talk about barbarians who were in allied (or subordinate-allied) relations with the steppe nomads.