From Ukraine to the Island of Sardinia (Once Again on the “Sea Peoples”)

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the mysterious resemblance between bronze warrior figurines (the bronzetti) from the island of Sardinia and Ukrainian finds from the Late Bronze Age. The explanation of this phenomenon is provided within the context of the participation of inhabitants of southern Ukraine in the “Sea Peoples” activity in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as trade contacts between the regions.
I began using the bronzetti from the island of Sardinia in my initial works on the relations between the inhabitants of the North Pontic region and the “Sea Peoples” of the Eastern Mediterranean. The analogy was viewed skeptically for a large duration of time, along with the very concept of people of Noua-Sabatynivka participating in the incursions to the Eastern Mediterranean. The situation changed drastically after the discovery of bronze warrior figurines near the Luzhany village in the Chernivtsi region and the city of Odesa. Said figurines are similar to the bronzetti, which come from the island of Sardinia.
As I have written before, the peculiar connection between Sardinia and North-Western Pontic region is most likely the result of the small group of “Sea Peoples” migrating to this island after being dismissed from a paid service in the Egyptian army during the Libyan war of Ramesses III. They are the ones who brought to the island the tradition of the bronzetti, bearing details of weaponry common among the southern Ukrainian cultures of Late Bronze Age. The Levantine tradition of bronze miniatures could have come to southern Ukraine as early as second millennia BC due to trade connections. Within the Noua-Sabatynivka culture, this tradition was adapted, and brought to the Mediterranean during the “Sea Peoples” incursion. In my opinion, such an anabasis of this group of people from southern Ukraine is worthy of further study.