Skvortsov K.N.

Key words: Roman period, Sambia, graves with horse remains, Wielbark culture, Przeworsk culture, amber trade.
Of the 554 burials investigated at Aleika 3 cemetery, 517 date to the 2nd – beginning of the 5th cc., and 37 – to the end of the 11th – the 12th c. The grave goods from some of the earlier burials allow assuming that the community to which the site belonged could have been a polyethnic one, most probably including representatives of the Wielbark culture in a Baltic milieu. In the group of older graves (2nd – beginning of the 5th cc.), horses have been found in 52 of the men’s burials, most of which (48 out of 52) date to the end of the 2nd – beginning of the 3d cc. The numerous analogies from the Danube region and the chronology of the oldest burials allow assuming that the ritual had found its way to Sambia as a result of Germanic-Sarmatian contacts in the time of Marcomanni wars. The abundant finds of imported Roman goods, including luxury items, most probably indicate that the community was an active participant in the amber trade.