Sword of the early sarmatian period from the Ik-Zay interfluve

A sword discovered in 2001 as a stray find in the area of Chaply village (Aznakayevsky District of the Tatarstan Republic) is analyzed in the article. The sword is kept at Aznakayevsky Local History Museum. The shape of its guard and blade allowed the author to suggest its Sarmatian origin. Similar artifacts of Sarmatian culture suggest dating the sword by the late 4th - late 3rd cc. A.D., i.e. by the Prohorovo (Early Sarmatian) period. This find is unique for the entire South-Eastern Tatarstan and was discovered far to the north of the main distribution area of the Sarmatian artifacts. It provides grounds for inclusion of this territory into the Prohorovo cultural area and should promote a more thorough study of artifacts at interfluves of minor rivers ? the Kama tributaries ? in order to identify and research barrows.