Some Yatsenko texts

Here are the main conclusions in S. Yatsenko's article about  Sarmatian gakks on Germanic spearheads.

He notes that so far 12 such spearheads (with 23 distinct markers/gakks) have been found: 7 in Poland, 2 in Germany, 2 in Ukraine, 1 in Norway. The Polish and Ukrainian finds are all from the Przeworsk culture area. All spearheads were made and inscribed in the period ca.150-250 CE.

"How did it come about that the possessive markers of Sarmatian aristocracy were utilized by their northwestern Germanic neighbours? It is after all well known that the utilization of someone else's identity markers without authorization by the owner inevitably led to serious conflict, including lengthy wars. We find the answer in the ethnology of the peoples of the northern Caucasus area, where as we managed to explain [gives reference to his 2001 article "Tamga-markers of Iranian-speaking nomads in antiquity and the early middle ages"] ancient Sarmat traditions for the utilization of such markers have been preserved [2001, pp. 12-14]. On the basis of customs preserved there until not very long ago the tamga/gakk of a prestigious clan could be used by members of another people who (1) gave an oath of alliance, (2) entered into a marriage contract with representatives of the clan, or (3) found themselves in a position of personal dependence on the
gakk=owning aristocrat [2001, p. 22]/.../
We know that up to the beginning of the 2nd c. CE the Sarmats made deep attacks towards the northwest into the forest zone with evident perturbations of the forest tribes [ Tacitus, Germania, c. 46] But at the time when our markers were inscribed... in Poland the clans which were the original owners of the markers in Sarmatia proper had for the most part disappeared under the pressure of new arrivals from the East -- carriers of the early variant of the Late Sarmatian culture. Also, the markers were inscribed on objects which, at that time, were not utilized by Sarmats for the recording of gakks, namely, on Germanic gala spearheads. This situation is easily explained. The Germanics could "by right" utilize the markers of friendly Sarmatian aristocratic clans even if the latter had been physically annihilated in the course of the ceaseless violent wars so characteristic of nomads. In the North Caucasus a tradition still existed not so long ago: after
the disappearance of a famous and warlike clan, its marker was adopted by neighbours as an emblem (even if they were not related) in order to obtain success and a portion of the divine blessing [Iranic "farn"] of that clan/.../
Having acquired the right to utilize clan markers of Sarmatian aristocrats, the Germanics also, plausibly, adopted the nomad tradition of inscribing a series of tamgas on an object by participants to an important event at the time of its occurrence, At the same time, the Germanic accumulation of such gakks were accompanied not only by runic inscriptions (Sarmatian accumulations were frequently accompanied by texts in Greek), but also by lunar and solar signs (while among the Sarmato-Alans prevailed representations of various animals).
On the basis of the Przeworsk culture spearheads we may list four groups of Sarmatian gakks belonging to four groups of related clans of Sarmat-Alans who contacted most closely with the Germanics. The largest group is represented by marker n. 1 [GK: this is what looks like a simple bident, very similar to the much later sign used by Svyatoslav of Kyiv], and those markers which include it as one of their elements {GK: BTW earlier Yatsenko had argued that this marker n.1 originated in Western Kazakhstan, on the peninsula of Mangishlak (Caspian east) ca. 200 BCE, and was in use there until at least 200 CE}. Markers of this type are depicted on 5 spearheads (including the one most recently /2003/ discovered in West Ukraine)/.../ A distinct place is occupied by the undecorated spearheads with the gakk of the powerful king of the Aorsi, Farzoi, which have been found in Valle [Norway] and Bodzhanovo [Lower Vistula].They attest to the extensive external
relations of his large dominion and, plausibly, indicate his search for military alliances at the time of his conflict with Rome."

NB: Yatsenko follows Baran in attributing the spearheads to the Goths. I don't think this is the case, since none were found in the Wielbark area. At best they could be spearheads of those Vandals who collaborated in the Gothic invasion of Ukraine in the 230's. But the timeline also allows them to be associated with the Vandal assault on the Costoboci in Galicia in 172 CE.