Belt sets belonging to the Early Byzantine tradition of the second half of 6th — first half of 7th centuries are found in the Middle Dnieper region in hoards of Martynovka type and belong to the Slavs being bearers of the Penkovka and Kolochin culture. The Penkovka culture corresponds to the Antes known from the written sources, while the ethnonym of Kolochin culture bearers is unknown. Distribution of such belts is indicative of military and political ties of the Antes and the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as of formation of ‘princely’ or ‘warrior’ culture among the Dnieper Slavs