> from
> http://tinyurl.com/lm3p4x
> (among much other intersting stuff)
>
> 21. Jatsenko, Sergej (Moscow) Methodological Problems in the Study
> of the Tamga–Nishan Signs of the Sarmatian Nomadic Clans
>
> '... Mapping of
> items with tamgas and eliciting the local specificity of their
> types are of principal importance. Sign accumulations on different
> items are usually connected with the procedure of collective vows,
> the signs of people from different neighboring regions being often
> met onthem as well. Nomadic clans whose tamgas are repeatedly
> presented in sign accumulations in different regions can be
> considered most active politically. Their symbols were usually used
> for a short period of time as nomadic clans in Sarmatia disappeared
> rapidly in the condition of military and ethnopolitical instability
> of that time. Sign pairs, presenting, according to the ethnological
> data, a symbol of a joint action of two clans play a very important
> role. Some artifacts which usually belonged to grown-up women
> (bronze caldrons, mirrors-pendants) reveal the directions of
> marriage unions. [apparently not spears and phalerae, TP]
> ...
> The fact of Sarmatian tamgas being used by many kings of the
> Greek-Barbarian Bosporan Kingdom is of great significance, the
> methods of using them being the same as Iranian ones. Clan and
> family members branded even the items of one type (coins, official
> inscriptions concerning building) not in each case and it seems
> impossible to clear up many details of this process.
>
> Many problems can be appreciated adequately only in case of complex
> investigation of all the data in the bounds of the vast Iranian
> world. The accumulations of tamga signs in sacral complexes of
> Western Turkestan (Sidak, Bayte, Takht-i Sangin) and South Siberia
> (Salbyk) have an important role at that. Sarmatian signs have a
> number of differences if compared with Iranian ones or those in
> Western Turkestan: here, on bricks and belt buckles of award the
> tamgas of kings (the Bosporan Kingdom) can be depicted, but there
> are neither images of pilgrims from different regions on the series
> of votive items with single sings nor tamgas on dice (as in Sidak).
>
On those 'collective vows':
R. Bezezinski & M. Mielczarek
The Sarmatians 400 BC - AD 450
p. 15
'An interesting insight into how Sarmatian forces were raised is given by the 2nd century AD Greek author Lucian. Although his description refers to a small band raised for a punitive expedition, he indicates that larger forces could be raised in the same way: 'When a man who has been wronged by another wishes to avenge himself but sees that by himself he is not strong enough, he sacrifices a bull, cuts up and cooks the meat, spreads the hide out on the ground, and sits on it, with his hands held behind his back like a man bound by the elbows ... The meat of the bull is served up, and as the man's kinsmen and all else who wish approach, each takes a portion of it, and then, setting his right foot upon the hide, makes a pledge according to his ability - one that he will furnish five horsemen to serve without [expecting to be given] rations or pay, another ten, another still more, another foot-soldiers, heavy-armed or light-armed, as many as he can, and another simply himself, if he is very poor. So a very large force is sometimes raised on the hide, and such an army is especially dependable as regards holding together and very hard for the enemy to conquer...' (Tox. 48).
Lucian indicates that each leader brought with him a number of horsemen or foot soldiers and was expected to supply and equip them himself. He later adds that forces of many thousands could be raised in this way 'on the hide'. Such a military structure is not dissimilar from early medieval practice or, indeed, from contemporary Germanic and Celtic systems.'
pp 19-20
'Infantry and slaves
Most Sarmatian actions described by ancient authors seem to have been
fought with cavalry alone. Indeed, the Alans regarded it 'beneath their dignity to go on foot' (Amm. 31.2.20). The Sarmatians did, however, employ foot troops. In a semi-historical text Lucian (Tox. 39) indicates that 10,000 horse and three times as many foot took part in a Sarmatian raid over the Don into Scythian territory. Although Lucian wrote in the 2nd century AD, this raid is evidently set several centuries earlier. These foot troops were probably dependent peoples rather than full-blooded Sarmatians. We have seen that Lucian described warriors raising troops 'on the hide' as contributing cavalry or 'foot soldiers, heavy-armed or light-armed', depending on their means.
The Sarmatians, like all steppe nomads, maintained a parasitic relationship with their subject populations. The indigenous tribes of the Black Sea coast- often called georgi ('farmers') or 'agricultural Scythians' - were allowed to tend their lands in return for regular tribute. Among them were Maeots and the neighbouring Sindi, 'driven by whips' (Val. Flacc, Argo. 6). In AD 49 the Siraces offered to hand over to the Romans 10,000 'slaves', probably native serfs, in return for sparing the town of Uspe (Tacitus, Ann. 12.17).'
So the complex sign on the Mus^ov spearhead perhaps represents a vow regarding some particular campaign?
Was Ariovistus' campaign organized in the same manner (note his use of infantry with cavalry?
Torsten