Denis Topal, The specificity of the Scythian panoply of the Lower Danube

The archaeological landscape of the Lower Danube was changing with the importance of the Danube itself, which either became, or a cultural water¬shed, or an artery, connecting the ancient communities. In the Early Iron Age, it seems that the Danube did not become an invincible barrier for the spread of offensive weapons of Scythian origin. Moreover, Dobruja itself looks like a ter-ritory mastered by the Scythians, starting from the Archaic period. The Lower Danube group forms a separate “steppe” cultural assemblage together with the Lower Dniester, South Carpathian and South Danube groups, for which the spear became the main type of weapon. However, these preferences were re¬flected in the morphology of the Scythian akinakes. So, for this steppe or Dan-ube enclave, swords are more characteristic than daggers. Daggers are connected mainly with the forest-steppe part of the Carpathian-Dniester region and Transylvania. The warrior graves of the Lower Danube region mainly belong to the Classical Scythian period, while the only exception is related to the right bank of the Lower Danube. However, there are no burials with akinakai and even stray finds in Classical time outside the steppe.