The Sarmatians on the western edge of the Eurasian steppe. Reading notes on a recently published monograph

Cercetări Arheologice 33.1, 2026, 427-446
https://doi.org/10.46535/ca.33.1.21



The Sarmatians on the western edge of the Eurasian steppe. Reading notes on a recently published monograph

Authors: Vitalie Bârcă

Keywords:

Sarmatians; Petrești necropolis; funerary ritual; ritual structures; north-west Pontic region

Abstract:

The publication of the monograph Sarmatian cemetery-shrine near the village of Petrești in the Middle Prut region1 [in Russian] by Serghei Kurceatov and Valeriu Bubulici provides new data and perspectives on the Sarmatian communities inhabiting the western edge of the Eurasian steppe. Owing to the richness of the archaeological documentation and the wide range of issues addressed, the volume serves as the starting point for a series of reading notes examining aspects related to the organisation of funerary space, ritual practices, chronology, and the cultural dynamics of Sarmatian groups in the Middle Prut region and the north-west Pontic area.

Building upon the information and interpretations proposed by the authors, the study discusses the principal results presented in the volume and critically evaluates some of the conclusions concerning the Petrești necropolis and its place within the Sarmatian world between the Dniester and the Danube. Particular attention is paid to ritual structures delimited by circular, square, and rectangular ditches, funerary practices, grave inventories, and the arguments advanced for the chronology of the site. The interpretations put forward by the authors are also examined in the light of comparable discoveries and relevant scholarship concerning the north-Pontic and Carpathian–Danubian Sarmatian environment.

The observations presented here aim both to highlight the contribution of the monograph to our understanding of the Sarmatian communities living on the western frontier of the Eurasian steppe and to discuss a number of issues related to interpretation and historical contextualisation. In this respect, the article seeks to contribute to ongoing debates regarding funerary practices, cultural identities, and the relationships between Sarmatian groups and neighbouring cultural environments during the first centuries A.D.

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How to cite: Vitalie Bârcă, The Sarmatians on the western edge of the Eurasian steppe. Reading notes on a recently published monograph, Cercetări Arheologice, Vol. 33.1, pag. 427-446, 2026, doi: https://doi.org/10.46535/ca.33.1.21

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