R hin-Danube Les appliques de selle a decor cloisonne de l'epoque merovingienne ancienne et leurs paralleles orientaux M i c h e l K a z a n s K i Rhine-Danube. The Saddle appliques with Cloisonne Decor from the ancient Merovingian Period and their eastern Parallels. Three discoveries of metal saddle appliques have been unearthed in Western and central europe: krefeld-gellep, ravenna and Sárvíz. our aim is to list the parallels of saddle appliques with a similar shape, to determine the origin, datation and function of these items. These appliques have many parallels to the east, in eastern europe and more scarcely in kazakhstan, in the post-hunnic period (from the middle of the 5 th to the middle of the 6 th century). The reconstruction of saddles with metallic appliques is well established based on the discoveries made in the horse tombs in the necropolis of Dyurso, in the northeast of the Black Sea, belonging to the goths-Tetraxites of the second half of the 5 th and the 6 th centuries. We can assume that a common prototype existed for these saddles, as shown by findings in the north caucasus. We can therefore assume the 'oriental' origin of the saddles with metallic appliques. Western appliques (krefeld-gellep, ravenna and Sárvíz) differ from those in eastern europe and kazakhstan, suggesting the existence of various manufacturing centers. indeed, the cloisonné decor of appliques in the West suggests they were manufactured in Mediterranean or Byzantine workshops. lastly, in the funerary context, the presence of saddles with metallic appliques is most often the sign of the privileged nature of the burial. it is a common 'princely fashion' of barbarians from different parts of europe and even asia.