The display opens with antiquities that relate to the origins of the Germanic cultural tradition in Eastern Europe. Sites belonging to the Przeworsk culture (2nd century BC – 4th century AD) are characterized by burials with weapons, the spread of which marks the military campaigns of the Germanic tribes of the Vandals and Lugii. The Wielbark culture (2nd – turn of the 5th century) is associated with the migration of Goths and Gepids from the territory of present-day Sweden. After reaching the middle basin of the Dnieper, the Gothic tribes formed the core of the Chernyakhov archaeological culture (3rd–4th centuries). The artefacts found at settlement sites testify to developed agriculture, cloth weaving, metal-working and pottery-making. The pictograms on the rim of a three-handed clay vase may be connected with the agricultural calendar or else with the mythology of the ancient Germanic people.
The Chernyakhov culture disappeared at the turn of the 5th century under the onslaught of the Huns. The invasion of the nomadic Huns from beyond the Volga in AD 375 marked the start of the Migration Period that lasted until the 6th century. The Huns reached the peak of their power during the reign of Attila (433–453), when the Roman Empire paid them an annual tribute in gold. Indicators of the Huns’ connections with the world of the Asiatic nomads are the bronze kettle, the tamga (badge, stamp or seal) on a torc, the trilobate arrowheads and the gold saddle plates. Articles in the Hunnic polychrome style are decorated with garnets set into soldered-on mounts.
After Attila’s death, the Hunnic state fell apart. Routed by a coalition of Germanic tribes, the remnants of their forces withdrew to the East. The Hunnic invasion barely affected the Bosporan Kingdom (Showcase 4) as the main wave of nomads passed further to the North. The Bosporan rulers aimed at an alliance with Rome. The majority of their subjects had Greek roots, while among the ruling elite Sarmatians (Alans) predominated and they were joined by the Germanic nobility. The traditions of late Classical Antiquity were strong in the Bosporan state, including burials in stone tombs with gold wreathes and clothing embellished with gold plaques. Bosporan jewellers produced adornments for the local nobility using the cloisonné inlay technique.
