New data of historical and archaeological topography of Kirov and Slobodskoy ob- tained through 2015–2022 state historical and cultural expertise

The article analyses C-shaped all-cast earrings from complexes dated 4th-7th century. There is a collection of artefacts from 79 monuments (France, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria). Precise topological & geodesic data are used to draw the map of embellishments. In the first place C-shaped earrings are found in the Northern Black Sea region. In terms of chronology they were popular for an extended period of time from antiquity (6th-5th century BC till early Middle Ages 4th-5th century AD). C-shaped earrings in complexes of 4th-7th centuries are evident of the Alans’ interference. However, it is assumed that the Huns adopted the Alans’ aesthetics and symbols. Caucasus, Northern Black Sea region and Lower Volga region in the first half of the 1st millennium were occupied by Sarmatian tribes (the Aorsi, the Alans) and the Huns. This territory is found with more than a half of our complex selection with C-shaped earrings. The Danube region (Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria) is another region discovered with archaeological materials that include this jewellery. Besides, C-shaped earrings are found in Brittany in the 5th century burial ground La Mézière (near Orléans), in Burgundy and Normandy. In the South-West France (Occitania, Pyrénées-Orientales) they found a few C-shaped earrings. Two regions in Gaul (France) were mentioned in certain written sources in relation to the Alans’; these regions were also discovered with C-shaped earrings. Volga - Kama - Aral region is registered with 25 closed complexes with C-shaped earrings. Elements of the burial ritual accompanied by tools are described in the table. Both ritualistic elements and tools found in complexes demonstrate homogeneous materials in regions thousands of kilometres apart. Simple C-shaped earrings in Volga - Kama - Aral region can be dated 4th-6th century. Earrings with bunches or pyramids can be dated the second half of the 6th-8th century. These earrings belong to the Sarmatian Alans.