Rome2nd–3rd century AD · Tsetsyn Forest, Chernivtsi, Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine

Enamelled 1,800-year-old Roman belt buckle found in a Ukrainian forest may have been a Sarmatian rider's

Local people near Chernivtsi handed the small buckle and belt fittings to a historian, who dates them to the 2nd–3rd century AD.

Sarmatian armoured riders flee Roman cavalry in a scene from Trajan's Column in Rome, photographed from a cast by Conrad Cichorius.

Rome desk·8 November 2026·2 min read

In brief 3 key points

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A buckle and four belt fittings from the Roman period
Decorated in coloured enamel like work from Roman provinces
The Sarmatian owner is a hypothesis still being tested

A small belt buckle decorated with coloured enamel, made about 1,800 years ago in the Roman provincial style, has been found in the Tsetsyn Forest near Chernivtsi in western Ukraine. Its finder thinks it may have belonged to a Sarmatian horse warrior. That idea still needs testing.

Local residents found the pieces and at first thought little of them. They gave them to Antonii Moisei, professor of social sciences and Ukrainian studies at Bukovinian State Medical University. Moisei has been studying the heritage of the area since 2024.

Map of Roman Dacia and free Dacian lands after the conquest — Map of Dacia after Trajan's conquest, with the Roman province and the unoccupied regions

A buckle the size of a thumbnail

The buckle measures 21 by 22 mm. It has teal, blue and yellow enamel set into hollows in the metal, a technique called champlevé. With it came a decorative belt fitting in the same enamel and three small round metal plates. They probably all belonged to one belt.

Moisei compared the pieces with known finds. He found them close to provincial Roman craft, in particular to objects from Roman Dacia, the province north of the Danube that Rome took after Trajan's Dacian Wars of AD 101–102 and 105–106. The closest parallels date mostly to the second and third centuries AD. He has also drawn a reconstruction of how the whole belt may have looked.

Whose belt was it?

One hypothesis is that a Sarmatian horseman wore it. Sarmatian tribes lived in the northwestern Black Sea region and lands near Bukovina in the second and third centuries. They used Roman equipment that they got by trade, through fighting or as trophies. Some Sarmatian riders fought against Rome, and others served in the Roman army.

Carved stone fragment with a horse rider from Roman Chester — A Roman tombstone fragment from Chester showing a horse rider, almost certainly a Sarmatian serving in the Roman army Photo: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany / CC BY-SA 2.0

The university says final confirmation that the belt was Sarmatian needs more research. Moisei consulted the archaeologist Mykola Ilkiv of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and specialists at the Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava in Romania.

The finds came to light during research for RESTORY, an EU Horizon Europe project. Once the study is finished, they are to go to the Chernivtsi Regional Museum of Local History.

Sources (2)

Official announcementfrom Bukovinian State Medical University

Colorful 1,800-year-old belt buckle discovered in a Ukrainian forest may have belonged to a nomadic equestrian warrior (Live Science: archaeology)
Буковинський державний медичний університет (Bukovinian State Medical University)

Edited by Guiseppe Weijermars

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