"Археологические вести". Спб., 2008. Выпуск 15. Аннотации.
В выпуск включены статьи, посвященные новейшим исследованиям в области археология, истории и культуры. Впервые вводятся в научный оборот материалы раскопок палеолитического Адербиевского местонахождения (Черноморское побережье Кавказа), погребальных комплексов эпохи сюнну: Год Мод 2 (Монголия) и Царам (Забайкалье). Нижегородского кремля XIII-XV вв. Наряду с публикацией результатов комплексных исследований дается анализ отдельных категория археологического материала, в частности мечей-акинаков скифского времени, вотивных свинцовых предметов из Ольвии, древнерусских каменных резных иконок. Специальный раздел составляют работы по актуальным проблемам археологии бронзового века: в них приводится анализ социальной структуры древних обществ и аспектов культурогенеза. В сборнике представлена информация о важнейших международных конференциях, дан обзор новейших отечественных н зарубежных публикаций по археологии. Среди авторов выпуска — ученые из России. Украины. Монголии. Китая. США. Франции.
Для археологов, этнографов, историков.
НОВЫЕ ОТКРЫТИЯ И ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ
Щелинский В. Е. Адербиевское ашельское местонахождение на черноморском побережье Северо-Западного Кавказа
Shchelinsky V.E. The Acheulian site of Aderba on the Black Sea Coast of the North-Western Caucasus
Many Acheulian sites are known in the Northwestern Caucasus. It is interesting that the majority of them are situated on the northern slope and mainly in one rather small zone, namely in the central part of Transkuban, in territory between two left-bank confluents of the Kuban' river - the Psekups and the Laba. It is also noteworthy that the area of their distribution covers the foothills of the Transkuban plains and parts of the lower foothills where some Pleistocene deposits of the high terraces are preserved. Evidently, Acheulian hunters were strongly attracted by the conditions of this area. It is likely that these places were abundant hunting grounds, presented safe and convenient positions for sites, and had sources of easily accessible quality raw material for the manufacturing of instruments, whose importance should not be underestimated. The distribution analysis of the findings permits us to assume, that the hunter's sites were situated in the flood-lands and on low promontories on the river banks.
However the numerous Acheulian sites of Transkuban that were found, are unfortunately mostly damaged, mainly by natural processes, and thus are difficult for studying. Some sites consist even of single finds. Others present numerous stone artifacts, but which are found on the surface and in the river, and thus they usually pertain to different time periods and don't have a precise geological binding, having been repeatedly moved. The only possibility of dating these finds is offered by geomorphological comparisons and the technical-typological analysis. However these methods are usually unreliable and do not permit the classification of these finds on certain cultural-chronological complexes.
Until recently Acheulian sites were very rare on the southern side of North-Western Caucasus. The best known finds were the handaxes from the bottom layers of the Ahshtyrskaya cave near the city Adler. These finds have a precise stratigraphical placement are dated not later than the beginning of the Upper Pleistocene (riss-wurm).
Afterwards, the presence of Acheulian sites on the sea terraces as well was discovered. These are especially well-formed in the region of the Black Sea coast. The geological position of these sites is also rather certain. Two non contemporary sites that have recently come to light are discussed: the site of Kadosh and site of Shiroky Mys, located near the city of Tuapse. The first one is dates as belonging probably to the end of the Middle Pleistocene, while the second one to the early Interstadial Upper Pleistocene (OIS 5c).
The article presents not yet published materials from the Acheulian site of Aderba, located on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. It is situated on the Aderba River, 6 km to the southeast from the city Gelendjik and 5 km from the sea. This site was destroyed by erosive processes and by modern agricultural activity, thus the archaeological material (stone artifacts, mostly from dense sandstone) was collected on a surface. Nevertheless the finds are positioned in rather clear geological conditions. They were collected on the ploughed up surfaces of the third and fourth terraces of Aderba River, and frequently there where yellow and brown loam and pebbles of these terraces were uncovered by ploughing. Another important dating attribute of these finds is that many of them have been significantly water-worn. It is supposed that originally they were situated in the alluvium terraces, and were revealed by ploughing.
The geological dating of the site of Aderba is based on determining of the age of the third and fourth terraces of the Aderba River. Geologists are unanimous regarding this evaluation. In all the river valleys of the Caucasus Black Sea region the third and fourth terraces are usually correlated with two top Karangat' sea terraces of the coastal zone: the Shahe and the Ashe, conforming to the local scheme, corresponding to OIS 5c and 5e, respectively.
The findings of Aderba represent the remains of the sites of Middle Paleolithic hunters destroyed by natural processes. Apparently these sites were visited for a consistent period of time. The analysis of a geological situation of the artifacts permits their dating according to the interval OIS 5e-5c (approximately 100-120 thousand years ago).
The archaeological material of site of Aderba is undoubtedly Acheulian. This is confirmed by the forms and the manufacturing techniques of the artifacts although one must take in account that the collection of these products is incomplete and seems filtered. Unfortunately the conserved artifacts are not the best ones, since this site resembles a «workshop» where the basic type of activity was manufacturing half-finished products and tools, which were consequently taken away elsewhere. Nevertheless the basic technical-typological features of this site's archaeological material are expressed quite clearly. They consist in a combination
of handaxes and choppers, and also in the presence of special bifacially worked knives (keilmessern). Another essential distinctive attribute of the material is the presence of classical Levallois cores (tortoise).
So far it is difficult to find direct analogies to the Acheulian site of Aderba. However it is possible to say that it doesn't differ greatly with other Acheulian sites of the Caucasus Black Sea region and this site essentially fulfills our understanding about the Acheulian of all the North-Western Caucasus.
Лазаретов И. П. Могильник Тюрим (о времени появления атипичной керамики в карасукских комплексах)
Lazaretov I.P. The Cemetery of Tyurim (the Appearance of Atypical Pottery in Karasuk Complexes)
In this paper considered are materials from the cemetery of Tyurim where a group of burials has been distinguished with atypical pottery differing in a number of features from the classical Karasuc ware. On the basis of analysis of the horizontal stratigraphy of the site, the time of its appearance has been reliably determined as the end of the I — beginning of the II stage of the late Bronze Age. Representative groups of burials with similar ware have been identified among those of the burial grounds of Malye Kopeny III, Kyurgenner I etc., enabling us to suppose that some new population penetrated the area of the Khakassian-Minusinsk Basin during the Karasuk period. That population was characterized by fences with comer stones, pit-graves with wooden structures, the position of the buried laid on die right side, and the south-western orientation of the deceased. The pottery is distinguished by its rough appearance, flat bottoms, elongated proportions and the absence of a ledge profilation in the place of the transition between the neck and the body of the vessel. Probably, exactly with that people the mass distribution of bronze objects of the Central-Asiatic appearance in southern Siberia was connected. The incomers influenced strongly the Karasuk culture bringing it to a fundamental transformation. The interaction and blending of the two ethnically different groups in the Khakassian-Minusinsk Basin at the turn of the 2nd and Ist millennium ВС resulted in the formation of the culture of the Lugavskoye type in which the two original constituents were organically combined.
Миллер Брайан К., Франсис Оллард, Димаджав Эрдэнэбатор, Кристин Ли. Погребальный комплекс сюнну: раскопки могильника Гол Мод 2, Монголия (2002–2005 гг.)
Miller B., F. Allard, D. Erdenebaatar, Chr. Lee. A Xiongnu Tomb Complex: Excavations at Gol Mod 2 Cemetery, Mongolia (2002–2005)
In July 2001, the 'Khanuy Valley Project on Early Nomadic Pastoral ism in Mongolia' located and mapped a large cemetery believed to be associated with the Xiongnu, a powerful confederacy of mobile pastoralists that is mentioned in China's Han dynasty texts and that came to occupy portions of present-day Mongolia and surrounding regions between the 3rd century ВСЕ and 2nd century CE. Named Gol Mod 2, the cemetery is located north of the Khangai mountain range in central-north Mongolia, some 12 kilometers east of the river Khanuy in Arkhangai aimag's Ondor Ulaan sum, in a sandy level area of the valley's flanking hills at an elevation of 1800 meters (N48°00'00" Е101°13'00"). The cemetery, which measures 2, 2 km west-east and 1, 3 km north-south, consists of over 400 burials. Of note, the burials include a total of 98 tombs whose external visible structure consists of a ramp leading up to a (usually) four-sided platform. Total tomb length (including the ramp and platform) ranges from 8 to 83 meters, while the orientation of the tombs (looking up from the ramp toward the platform) varies between 329° and 002°. (i. e. northwest — north), with the tombs generally pointing toward the stream at the bottom of the gentle slope. The survey also identified and mapped a total of about 250 small circular 'satellite burials' that were usually placed in an arc on the east or west side of some of the largest ramped tombs. A third category of tombs includes approximately 85 large, circular, and apparently independent burials whose maximum diameter is 28, 3 meters. The limited visibility of surface stones sometimes hinders the identification of individual satellite tombs, while their location does not always permit a clear determination of whether they are associated with a ramped tomb, or are in fact independent circular burials. Since the initial discovery and mapping of Gol Mod 2 in 2001, the Khanuy Valley project has carried out three field seasons at the cemetery (in 2002, 2004, and 2005). Work has focused on the excavation of 27 satellite burials arranged in an arc along the east side of the cemetery's prominent 'Tomb 1 complex', whose (as yet unexcavated) 83 meter long ramp-platform tomb is the largest Xiongnu burial known to date anywhere. This brief report focuses on the results of the excavations of satellite burials № 1-27, as well as burial № 29, which is located to the immediate north of the platform.
Пираццоли-Серстевенс М. Китайская надпись из элитного кургана сюнну в могильнике Царам
Pirazzoli-Serstevens M. Chinese Inscription from Xiongnu Elite Barrow in Tsaraam Cemetery
Recent years first elite Xiongnu burial complex in the Tsaraam valley was systematically investigated using modem archaeological methods. A lot of prestigious objects like jade objects, silk, unique gold plaques, silver, bronze and iron implements were discovered in the central barrow no. 7 (Миняев, Сахаровская, 2002; 2007). Future investigation of the finds will provide important insights on the society and culture of the Xiongnu alliance.
There is a number of Chinese items among die finds. Objects of this kind like chariot, mirrors, lacquered cups, stick and other ones are very important both for chronology of the Xiongnu archaeological sites and for illustration of contacts between Xiongnu nobles and Han court. A lacquered box with a Chinese inscription from the central barrow no. 7 deserves special attention. This box was found in the western outside corridor as a part of grave inventory of the burial doll no. 2, one of four found in the barrow. The doll was composed of the skull of a baby (some months old) and small lacquered wooden sticks which shaped members. The grave inventory of the doll consisted of a belt with iron plaques, a line of beads on the belt, a necklace and Chinese lacquered box. This box was found on the 17-th meters deep, it was destroyed very hard by a pressure of soil, stones and moving of logs of the burial chamber. Therefore it is impossible to reconstruct correctly the shape and the size of the box. The outside surface of the box was covered by brown lacquer and ornamented by incised lines and red painted lines. The quatrefoil motif on the center of the cover is very similar to the same motif on other Chinese boxes. Inside the box were found two wooden combs, a fragment of Chinese mirror, a fragment of mica, a small birch-bark container, a set of iron needles and a wooden needle-box.
The Chinese inscription was incised on the outside surface of the box between ornamental incised parallel lines. The characters are concentrated into groups separated by a small ornamental zone, but they undoubtedly form one inscription. This inscription is incomplete — the first part of die inscription was destroyed, some other characters are missing as well. A preserved part of the inscription consisted of 24 characters, which are presented in the fig. 1.
The first readable character (after the destroyed part of the box) is (nian — «year»). Before the character one can sec an horizontal line which in fact is a part of the character of the year of the regnal title. As the regnal titles of the Western Han were changed every five years or so, and as the lacquer box does not seem to date from the Eastern Han (when regnal titles last for longer periods), this year could be «second» or «third» or «fifth».
This mention [regnal title] [year] is typical at the beginning of inscriptions of this kind. Follow the name of the master artisan who directed the work in die imperial workshop and the names of the officials who managed and inspected the workshop. The names of each official is preceded by the character («chen» - your servant) which is used only in the inscription when the piece was fit for use by the emperor. From this fact I infer that the inscription started with the characters (chengyu — «for use by the emperor»). The men-lion was written before the regnal tide and year and was destroyed with them.
The two following characters (after «nian») are («kao gong» imperial workshop), followed by a sign which indicates that die preceding character (here «gong») is duplicated. Thus this part of the inscription can be read as «kaogong gong». The second «gong» character means here «master artisan». The kaogong workshop, where the box was made was an imperial workshop at the Han capital Chang'an. The two imperial workshops in Chang'an, the Gonggong and the Kaogong, whose production was in quantity and quality a little inferior to the production of die Shu and Guanghan official workshops of Sichuan, made many pieces to be given as diplomatic presents (see, on these two workshops: Barbieri-Low, 2001; Hong Shi, 2005. P. 381-410).
The style of the inscription and of the decor of the Tsaraam box corresponds to the style of the Chang'an Imperial workshops as well. Unfortunately fifteen pieces with inscription coming from the Gonggong or the Kaogong (not including the Tsaraam piece) have been published so far (Hong Shi, 2005. P. 407-408). Their inscription style is different from the Shu official workshops' inscriptions found in Noin-Ula.
After the name of the master artisan Shang who made the box, the inscription listed the people (functions and names) who managed and inspected (xing) the workshop. Each name is preceded by the character «chen» (your servant. [the workshop overseer ] your servant Kang, the lacquer bureau head your servant An (the names Kang and An were read by prof. Gao Chongwen). Missing characters here could be reconstruct as («sefu» — the workshop overseer). If so, this part of the inscription could be read as: the workshop overseer your servant Kang.
Inspected by: the Assistant Director of the Right your servant [... ], the Director your servant [... ] and the Commandery Clerk for Workshop Inspection your servant Zun (?—I'm not sore for reading of the name — M. P. ).
The translation:
(Fit for use by the emperor] made in the [?] year of the [ ? era) by the master artisan of the Kaogong imperial workshop Shang. Managed by the workshop overseer your servant Kang, the lacquer bureau head your servant An. Inspected by the Assistant Director of the Right your servant [?], the Director your servant [?] and the Commandery Clerk for Workshop Inspection your servant Zun.
The indications of datation that the inscription gives at the moment are as follow.
The style of the inscription. The piece is probably not earlier that 36-27 ВС, because it is in this period 36-27 ВС that the distinction between «made» (zao), «managed» (zhu) and «inspected» (xing), as it is written in the inscription, appears. The piece was certainly not made during the Wang Mang reign (9-24 A. D. ), because during this period the character (zhu - «managed by») is replaced by («zhang»). During the later Han. the character «zhu» is used again.
The style of the painted decor. The rather thin painted outlines and the rather spaced out composition could indicate a date prior to Wang Mang and to the Later Han when the lines become thicker and the composition more crowded.
The incised decor on the Tsaraam's box, made of rhombs and small incised vertical lines, is very similar to the decor on a lacquered box dated 4 A. D., but a similar motif can also be seen on a lacquered box dated 43 ВС (Umehara Sueji. 1943. PI. XXVIII. №26 and id. 6; Р1. III).
Some fragments of other lacquered pieces were found in the Tsaraam's complex no. 7: in the northern corridor of burial chamber of the central barrow and in the no. 16 sacrifice burial. The painted decor on these lacquered pieces is similar to the one painted on lacquered objects manufactured in the official workshops of Sichuan province during the period between 8 ВС and 4 A.D. This style was copied by the imperial workshops at the Han capital Chang'an and was maintained there maybe a little longer.
Thus, I believe that the period between 8 ВС and 4 A.D. could a possible date for the lacquer box from Tsaraam. Of course the date is only as terminus post диет for the complex no. 7 since prestigious lacquer pieces could have been preserved for some time as family value before being used as grave goods.
Кокорина Ю.Г. Меч, акинак, кинжал – какой термин выбрать (к постановке проблемы)?
Kokorina Yu.G. Sword, Dagger or Acinaces – What Term to Chose?
The present paper is dedicated to the problem of differences between the terms concerned with Scythian blade weapons. The length and width of the blade may serve as the criteria for the classification of the weapons, the size of the handle being practically identical. Here, the mathematical concept of «interval» is applied which means the locus of points comprised between two points A and B. Sometimes this notion is extended denoting any connected set on a direct line.
The lengths of the swords studied were arranged in the increasing order from 18 cm up to 98 cm thus allowing us to distinguish the intervals in the size of the blades. These intervals amounted to 24 cm. Polygon no. I was plotted with the intervals in the length of the blades set horizontally while the width intervals equal to J cm were taken as the ordinates.
The analysis of the polygon showed a linear dependence between the length and the width of the blades and our dimensional classes of blades have been determined. Thus we have grounds to propose the hypothesis that the Scythians had three classes of blade weapons of the close fight: one with the blade width from 3 to 4 cm and the length up to 24 may be called daggers, those with the blade width from 4 cm to 5 cm and the length from 24 to 48 cm may be called acinaci, and the weapons with the blade width from 5 to 6 cm and up to 72 cm long are to be called swords. Possibly, still another though less common group of swords existed with the length over 72 cm which may be arbitrarily called long swords.
Furthermore, a narrower interval equal to 8 cm in the lengths of blades has been distinguished. With its use polygon no. 2 was plotted. This discovery is of special interest since in the Iranian world mere was a measure of length equal to 8 cm and called «palm of the hand».
To conclude, four dimensional classes of blade have been identified allowing us to obtain a clear definition for each type of Scythian weapons of close fight.
Вахтина М.Ю. О змеях на ручке бронзового кратера из с. Мартоноша
Vakhtina M.Yu. About the Serpents on the Handles of the Bronze Krater from v. Martonosh
On the handle of a bronze volute-crater from the Scythian kurgan near the village of Martonosha in the forest-steppe Dnieper region there are representations of snakes (fig. 1). The krater is dated to 530 ВС (Piotrovsky, Galanina, Grach, 1986. P. 21. PI. 55). At present the handle is housed in the Department of the Archaeology of Eastern Europe and Siberia, State Hermitage.
The handle of the krater was decorated with representations of Medusa with two pairs of wings in the pose of «kneeling run» to the left At her feet on each side there is a snake. This find was published and analyzed by S. A. Zhebelev and V. M. Malmberg as early as the beginning of the 20th century (1907); often it attracts attention of researchers concerned with problems of the Grueco-Barbarian contacts on the Northern Black Sea littoral in the Archaic period. P. Wells supposes that finds of Greek bronze kraters are characteristic of the so-called «con tact zones» (i. e. those between the Greeks and barbarians) as if marking the limits which the Greek civilization had reached in the end of the archaic period (Wells, 1980. P. 53-54).
The handles of similar vessels were fairly often decorated by the figures of Medusa with a pair of snakes below. It is noteworthy that on the Martonosha krater the Greek artisan has depicted the snakes at the feet of Medusa as possessing clearly expressed species traits. Similar traits, judging by the published work, are shown also by the snakes represented on the handles of the krater from Burial 8 at the necropolis near v. Terebnishche (fig. 3) in the former Yugoslavia (Василев, 1988. P. 29. Fig. 2). The realistic details of the representations and similarity of the heads of snakes on the krater handles from the kurgan near v. Martonosha and that from Terebnishche suggest that on these vessels quite real snakes of a particular species are depicted. The appearance of that species thus must have been fairly well known to Greek artisans. According to the identification of Dr. of Life Science N. A. Anan'yeva (Zoological Institute, RAS), represented on the Greek kraters are rat snakes (Elaphe) of the genus Elaphe longissima or the Aesculapian snakes. The latter name derives from Aesculapius or Asclepius — the Greek god of medicine and healing, whom the Classic Greek tradition depicted as an aged man holding a staff with a serpent coiled around it Hygieia's (daughter of Asclepius) animal was also a serpent, sometimes shown drinking from a saucer held in her hand. From that representation the famous symbol of medicine derives as a serpent bending over a bowl. Snakes were kept in temples and sanctuaries of Asclepius where they were given sacrificial offerings in form of honey cakes.
Rat snakes Elaphe longissima, although non-venomous, are of an impressive appearance. They are of silvery colour, sometimes 2 m long. The feature of this Species is that they are easily «tamed». Their habitat is fairly wide. Zoologists attribute the spread of Elaphe longissima to the movements of Roman legions who carried these snakes throughout Europe as domestic animals. Another vivid peculiarity of this species is that during the courtship game the male and female intertwine forming a figure like a lyre or a caduceus, sometimes retaining that pose and moving in it for a fairly long time. All the above gives us grounds to suppose that the impressive appearance of these snakes, their readiness for taming and their unpretentiousness in life possibly allowed the ancient Greeks to keep them in captivity, particularly as temple snakes. It is, therefore, by no means improbable that their outer appearance was quite common to the Greek artisan who created the composition decorating the handles of the bronze krater from the kurgan near the village of Martonosha.
Буйских А.В., В.М. Зубарь. К проблеме функциональной атрибуции памятников Маячного полуострова
Buyskikh A.V., V.M. Zubar’. The Problem of the Function of the Sites on the Mayachny Peninsula (Crimea).
The new hypothesis on the existence of a temenos at the settlement situated within the area in-between the walls on the Mayachny Peninsula is critically considered. The conclusion on the possibility that there had been a temenos here was deducted inter alia from the published results of the recent excavations on the basis of the presence of stone and tile structures with traces of fire. These particular structures have been uncovered in some rooms and in the inner courtyard of the building complex and were interpreted as altars. Moreover, in certain rooms of the building complex, were found wineries and wells, the character of which was identified also as ritual in accordance with the supposed general feature of the excavated budding remains. This hypothesis necessitated a comparison to be made between the ruins under publication and the tradition of the construction of temenoi as it is known by materials from the Mediterranean and northern Black Sea area. In terms of that tradition, a temenos was a specifically organized territory separated from the surrounding area of dwelling houses or some rural landscape for the public performance of religious ceremonies or celebration of calendar festivals by members of the civic commune.
The comparison with those temenoi that were found within the northern Black Sea region (Borysthenes on i. Berezan, Olbia, Chersonesos, Panticapacum) and in Histria on the north-western Black Sea littoral has demonstrated that along with the indispensable temple, altars and a fence the temenoi had also certain specific sets of structures defined by their sacral function. In addition, a feature of a temenos is numerous finds of objects which had been votive offerings or used in the ritual practice - painted ceremonial ware, vessels with dedicatory graffiti, sculptures, terracottas and other objects made from ceramics, stone, or metals (mostly nonferrous). The manufacturing shops found in Olbia within the territory of temenoi served to the religious functions of the latter rather than to any household or economic purposes.
Furthermore, the structures revealed in houses on the isthmus of Mayachny Peninsula were compared with the similar ones excavated earlier within building complexes of the Mayachny Peninsula and in dwelling houses in Chersonesos, Kerkinitis and Kalos Limen. as well as in rural and economic/domestic complexes in north-west-em Taurica. These all have been attributed reliably as altars. Parallels in dwelling house-building in Greece suggest that they may have been considered also as Hestiai while the rooms where they were found were the oikoi. In some cases, taking into account the small size of the urban dwellings or rural houses these oikoi certainly may have had the functions combined with the kitchen ones using the hearths to their direct purpose. Therefore, only one structure revealed in the inner courtyard of the new building complex on the Mayachny Peninsula may be considered as an altar.
All the above enables us to return to the previous conclusion on the urbanized character of the settlement on the isthmus of the Mayachny Peninsula which consisted of rural houses arranged into quarters similarly to the synchronous house-building in Chersonesos. This fact, in turn, demonstrates once more the predominance of the economic rather than religious function of the site under publication. Furthermore the wineries uncovered at the site undoubtedly were of the domestic and not religious nature. Since they are concerned with the first building period which now is dated to the second quarter of the 4th century ВС this fact induces us to review the dates of the beginning of production of marketable wine in Tauric Chersonesos and respectively the beginning of the manufacture of the city's own amphorae i. e. of the origin of the Chersonesean ceramic complex.
Скржинская М.В. Главные храмы и праздники античных государств Северного Причерноморья в литературных и эпиграфических источниках
Skrzhinskaya M.V. The Major Temples and Festivals in Ancient States of the Northern Black Sea Region in Literary and Epigraphic Sources
Analysis of ancient documentary and epigraphic sources has enabled to identify and partly restore the names of the major temples and festivities in Olbia, Chersonesos and some cities of the Bosporus. Originally Apollo letros headed the pantheon of deities in the Milesian colonies on the Northern Black Sea littoral. As shown by an Olbian graffitto of the 6th century ВС, his sanctuaries were called letrons while the festivals in his honour respectively were Ietrea or Apollonia.
In the 5th century ВС in Olbia, the cult of Apollo in the hypostasis of the Delphinian pushed off to the back-
ground the worship of the god with the epiklesis of letros. The main Olbian temple in the Central Temenos was called Delphinion and the festivities were Delphinia. In Pantecapaeum, on the contrary, until the late 2nd century ВС the temple and the festival seemed to retain their old appellation.
On the Asiatic side of the Bosporus where the cult of Aphrodite Urania Apatura was especially popular, there were two large temples - Apaturions - of the goddess: in Phanagoria and outside the city on the shore of the Tainan Gulf. The festival of Apaturia was held there from the beginning of Archaic period. In the city of Kepoi (Gardens) that goddess was worshipped with the epiklesis of «Aphrodite in the Gardens» wherefrom the name of the town took its origin.
From the decree of Diophantes it is known that in Chersonesos, the main festival dedicated to Artemis with the epiklesis of Parthenos was called Parthenia. Correspondingly, the temple of the goddess must have had the name of Parthenon that is confirmed by allusions in the texts of the hagiography of Cherson bishops Basil and Kapiton. Here, presented is a detailed analysis of a statement of Strabo (VII, 4, 2; P. 308) which has an ambiguous interpretation in scientific literature. The present author arrives to the conclusion that we are dealing here with two different temples of Parthenos rather than a single one: the first really existed in Chersonesos whereas the other was created by the fantasy of the Hellenes in the myth about Iphigenia the priestess of Artemis Tauropolos. The belief that in the temple there was an ancient wooden representation of the goddess also belongs to the mythological tradition although many researchers basing on V. V. Latyshev's interpretation of the text supposed that it mentioned a real statue.
The appellations of the main temples and festivals of the Classic period in the northern Black Sea region were based on the tradition common for all Greeks, the selection of the names according to the deity's epiklesis suggesting that the deity concerned was worshipped in a particular hypostasis with its characteristic function.
Шауб И.Ю. Культ Диониса и свинцовые вотивы из Ольвии
Schaub I.Yu. The Cult of Dionysus and Lead Votives from Olbia
The cult of Dionysus is known from notices of Herodotus as well as from an entire series of archaeological evidence.
In the 4th century ВС in Olbia production of lead bucrania and double-axes (labris), also associated with the cult of Dionysus, began. It is believed that the bucrania was regarded by Olbiapolites as sacrifices while double-axe as the weapon by means of which that sacrifice was executed in honour of chthonic Dionysus. Here it is supposed that the presence of double-axes among these religious objects which were casted both together with bucrania and independently of the latter suggests a more complicated combination of the related ideas. Possibly we are dealing here with the revival of more ancient concepts characteristic of Minoan Crete where labris was one of the main symbols of the power of the Great Goddess while bucranium (or bull's horns) was the symbol of the eternal domination of the Great Goddess over the bull-god. It is probable, moreover, that mis composition symbolized also the unity of the male and female elements in nature. More important for us is, however, the fact that the goddess herself was represented on a Tripolye ritual object in a form of a bull head. Thus we are possibly dealing in Olbian ritual objects with a continuity or revival of the ancient tradition of the North Black Sea region.
The fact that the bucrania proper could not be related entirely to the Dionysian faith is suggested by the images engraved on the lead objects under consideration. If even these lead ritual objects were really related with Dionysus, that god must have been an extremely archaic pre-Greek «proto-Dionysus» — the dying and resuscitating deity of vegetation and one of the numerous hypostases of the companion of the Great Goddess. Along with Olbia, similar objects are found occasionally also in Apollonia on the Pontus and, presumably, in the Bosporus. The intermediate link between the ritual objects of the Minoan Crete and Olbian lead artefacts is represented by similar votives from the archaic sanctuaries of Artemis Orthia in Sparta. It is well known that until the end of the Classic period that goddess retained the most characteristic features of her Minoan prototype.
It is possible, that the examples of Olbian bucraniae and labri are the argument in favour of the profound idea of V. I. Ivanov that «the pre-Dionysian cults sought a syncretic form uniting the two religions - the Olympian and the chtonic one».
Соболев В.Ю. Могильник финальной стадии культуры длинных курганов Березицы VI
Sobolev V. Yu. Berezitsy VI – a Burial Ground of the Final Stage of the Culture of Long Barrows
This paper is dedicated to publication of materials from the completely excavated kurgan cemetery of Berezitsy VI located near the village of Berezitsy in the Strugo-Krasnensky region of Pskov oblast.
Within the micro-region under consideration there is a large «cluster» of archaeological sites of the second half and the end of the 1st to the first third of the 2nd millennium AD. Archaeological researches in this region were started in the early 20th century.
The group of kurgans excavated consisted of eight barrows and three flat graves uncovered in the area between the kurgans. All of the burials were cremations with the pyre areas located aside from places of the final deposit of the remains. The objects found among the calcined bones — rings of small diameter made from bronze wire, including some with a glass bead hafted on them, drops of melted glass and bronze, cornelian beads - all show the effects of fire.
The burial rite and the finds allow us to attribute the group under studies to the culture of the Pskov-Novgorod long barrows and to date it to the later stage of the existence of that culture, viz. the second half of the 10th - early 11th century.
Пуцко В.Г. Резная иконка в Ельце. Деисус в новгородской каменной пластике XIV в.
Putsko V.G. A Small Carved Icon from Yelets. Deësis in the Novgorodian Stone Plastic Arts of the 14th Century
In the regional museum of the city of Yelets there is a small stone icon. Its original history is unknown except for that in the late 19th century it came to the collection of the clergyman V. P. Kavkazskiy. The icon made of schist is of rectangular form with rounded top. On the front side represented in a shallow relief is the group of the Deisis with enthroned Christ and Our Lady and St. John the Baptist standing in front (fig. 1). All its traits suggest that this icon belongs to the circle of small stone objects of the Novgorodian plastic arts of the late 12th - early 14th century. These works reflect the stage of the establishment of the local artistic tradition. The Deesis composition is a subject which is traceable among the Novgorodian small works of stone since the 14th century, most commonly with the representations of the enthroned Saviour. The total number of similar small icons known is 10 including the Yelets one (fig. 2, 1-9). They all are close in terms of their iconography and style without being absolutely identical. In each case there are some individual features, most often in the treatment of details, but nevertheless one hardly can deny the existence of some source common for all these examples. Probably, that source was some icon well known and held sacred in Novgorod as early as the 13th century.
Грибов Н.Н., В.А. Лапшин. Нижегородский кремль в XIII–XIV и XV вв.
Gribov N.N., V.A. Lapshin. The Nizhny-Novgorod Kremlin in the 13th–14th and 15th centuries
The new evidence obtained by the present authors during excavations in the territory of Nizhny Novgorod - in the Kremlin (V. A. Lapshin) and at the town-site of Gorodok (N. N. Gribov) — has enabled us to trace the changes in the topography of the city during the 13th-15th, centuries (fig. 1).
Nizhny Novgorod was founded in 1221 as a frontier fortress on the border with Volga Bulgaria and as a base for occupation of new lands in the Volga region. Having survived during the crisis caused by Batu's raid in 1238, apparently as early as the beginning of the 14th century the city became a significant centre of the Volga trade. This is shown by the fact that in 1341 the capital was moved from Suzdal to Nizhny Novgorod in the course of the formation of the Nizhny-Novgorod principality. The Grand Principality of Nizhny Novgorod survived for fifty years. In 1392 Vasily Dmitrievich of Moscow bought in the Golden Horde the yarlyk (order) on Nizhny Novgorod and the independent see of the latter was abolished. The city began to be administered by a Moscow governor and again it entered a period of decline. The significance of Nizhny Novgorod grew considerably with the appearance of the Kazan Khanate in the beginning of the 16th century when a new stone kremlin (central fortress) was built in the city.
In the present paper, events of the political history are compared with archaeological evidence, hi 2001—2002, rescuing excavations were started in the western section of the Nizhny-Novgorod Kremlin. A continuous area of 970 sq. m has been excavated. Those were the most large-scale excavations during the entire history of the archaeological studies of the Nizhny-Novgorod Kremlin. The complexes of three chronological blocks have been identified: 13th—15th century, 16th—17th century and the 18th century. Here, the authors will focus on the complexes of the first chronological group. The latter are predominant in number since that was the period of the most active occupation of the settlement.
Artefacts of the pre Mongolian types have been found only as single objects constituting no complexes. The other finds are dated widely to the 13th—14th century. A chronologically significant feature of the Nizhny-Novgorod occupation level is a considerable number of oriental imports - those manufactured in the Golden Horde or carried to Rus via the Horde (fig. 2). Nizhny Novgorod is far in advance of other Russian cities in the number of finds of Kashan pottery (342 fragments). Among the finds fairly common in a medieval Russian town (fig. 3), the most numerous and therefore also chronologically significant are glass bracelets - their total amounting to 297 fragments. For the chronology of Nizhny Novgorod it is important that in the majority of pit assemblages, glass bracelets are found together with the Kashan pottery and Syro-Egyptian glass. Glass bracelets are thus quite common in the 14th century and in no way are any trait of the pre-Mongolian level. A similar situation is characteristic only of Tver and Bulgar. It follows from the facts mentioned above that within the area under consideration in the Kremlin no layers of the pre-Mongolian period are present. In terms of the general dynamics of the importation of oriental pottery to Rus in the 14th century (Коваль, 1997), the majority of the assemblages must be dated to the middle — second half of the 14th century. Passing on to the historical chronology from the archaeological one we have grounds to conclude that the excavated area of the Nizhny-Novgorod Kremlin was actively occupied during the period of the independent Nizhny-Novgorod Principality (1341-1392).
The question arises as to the reasons why there are no complexes of the 13th century and where they are to be sought. For the answer we must consider the topography of the city. Here, a scheme of the development of the Kremlin is proposed and grounded. According to it, the Kremlin's territory was from its origin a two-part structure. In 1221, construction of a small wood-and-earth fortress was started in the eastern section of the Kremlin, while in the western one, the court of the prince was being built. The defences comprised in their western part a vast area still unoccupied by houses, which was completely built-up only in the period of the peak of the Nizhny-Novgorod Grand Princedom in the 40s—90s. The layers of the 14th century are to be searched primarily in the eastern section of the Kremlin and along the edge of the riverside terrace - in the western part.
No cultural layer of the 15th century is found in the Nizhny-Novgorod Kremlin. The period until the early 16th century is represented by only occasional isolated finds constituting no complexes. The question as to where we must search the town of the 15th century (which, judging by the written sources, seems to have played a fairly important role in the arising Moscow state) is answered by the results of excavations at the town-site of Gorodok. This site with an area of 0.7 hectares lies 1.5 km south of the Nizhny-Novgorod detinets (kremlin) and 1 km from the respective boundary of the urban area built-up in the 13th-14th century (fig. 1). During the excavations of 1996, 2003, and 2004, a sector densely built-up with structures related with at least four different estates was revealed within a total area of 192 sq. m. The finds constitute a chronologically homogenous assemblage (fig. 4). Most of the 32 coins found here were minted in Moscow within the time gap of 1446-1505. The scarce and unrelated older materials of the second half of the 13th — 14th century were uncovered among the complexes which included coins of the 15th century and thus may have been just some archaisms surviving in the everyday life.
Taking into consideration the historical realities of the Nizhny-Novgorod state within the chronological frame of the existence of the settlement regarded, its most tenable interpretation seems to be that of a fortified base which along with quartering of the military garrison combined the function of the residence of the Moscow Grand-Prince administration at what was then a frontier. The settlement may be related with Nizhny Novgorod Maly (i. e. the Younger) or Nizhny Novgorod the New mentioned in the chronicles. Here, in the winter of 1445, Grand Prince's voevodes (military governors) Feodor Dolgolyadov and pan Yushka Dranitsa withstood a siege. The site of Gorodok was abandoned in the early 16th century, The high concentration of artefacts in the site's cultural layers suggests indirectly a sudden character of its downfall. The catastrophe may have been due to the attack of the Kazan Tartars under Muhamed-Emin in the autumn of 1505, when also the Nizhny-Novgorod posad (i. e. the part of a Russian settlement lying outside the walls of the fortified core) was burnt down and the city's outskirts devastated. In the first decade of the 16th century a stone kremlin was built in Nizhny Novgorod so that the necessity to restore the small fortress on the outskirts of the old city vanished of itself.
Егорьков А.Н. О цементационном получении бронзы и латуни в древности
Yegor’kov A.N. Bronze and Brass Production by Cementation in Antiquity
As pointed out by J. A. Charles (1979) the main method of production of bronze in antiquity was cementation which possesses certain advantages as compared to dissolution of elemental tin in copper. These advantages are: (1) omission of the stage of smelting of elemental tin during the bronze-manufacturing process; (2) dissolution of the produced tin in copper promotes the reaction of reduction of tin from cassiterite; (3) possibility to produce bronze at a lower temperature than that needed for obtaining pure tin from cassiterite. The explanation of the latter phenomenon, neglected by J. A. Charles, is presented in this paper. According to the equation for heat transfer, the decrease of the temperature of the process is achieved through the increase of the area and acceleration of heat transfer from the inner wall of crucible due to the high heat conductivity of copper.
As to brass, it is possible that in antiquity smelting of elemental zinc was used and production of brass could really be carried out by the direct addition of zinc to copper. Nevertheless, the advantages of cementation for alloy production, as pointed out by J. A. Charles, are so obvious that this technique must be considered as far more predominant in brass production. This is evident, e. g.. from the absence of artifacts from aureate brass with 40% zinc content.
A hypothetic technique of brass fabrication in antiquity is here proposed. The author believes that brass was produced by the cementation process, and not in closed nor sealed crucibles, as it is described in the works of P. T. Craddock et al. (1978, 1983, 1985, 2003), but in unsealed ones instead. It is proposed here, that the main role in production of brass with high contents of zinc by means of cementation was rilled by the size of copper pieces and preliminary decomposition of calamine (or smithsonite according to the American and Russian geological nomenclature) in the same crucible thus minimizing the emission of gases which lead to slopping of the mixture from the crucible during the process. Such an operation allowed to diminish the size of copper pieces and thus to increase the absorption area. Accordingly, higher zinc contents were achieved in the final brass, and the content of 28%. mentioned by P. T. Craddock as the maximum, may have been to some extent exceeded. Moreover, P. T. Craddock advocates that lead and tin in the melt reduce the absorption of one and diminish its final content. However, the results of analyses published recently in quite a number of articles show that high zinc contents (28% or more) can be accompanied in brasses by moderate quantities of tin or, more often, lead (Дьяченко, 1978; Орлов, 1989; Schreiner et al., 2000; Егорьков. Щеглова, 2001). On the other hand, it would be misleading to consider each brass with a lowered zinc content as diluted by copper or, still less tenable, as produced not by cementation.
The dramatic fate of August's sestertii and dupondii, which disappeared quickly from circulation, owed to the expansion of the technique of high-zinc brass production at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD.
АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ АРХЕОЛОГИИ
Рысин М.Б. Успенский этап кавказской металлообработки среднего бронзового века
Rysin M.B. The Uspensky Stage of the Caucasus Metalworking in the Middle Bronze Age
The generally accepted periodic scheme based on the evolution of types of metal artefacts was developed by A. A. lessen (Иессен, 1950). The effectiveness of this scheme is determined not only by the wide distribution of the Caucasian types of metal objects and by the rapidity of adoption of innovations in metal working, but also by our poor knowledge of the cultural periods of Caucasian sites, especially those of the Middle Bronze Age (MBA). Thus there is at present no unanimity as to the problem of periods of sites of the so-called North-Caucasian culture, neither we have any periodic scheme for the dolmen culture of the Western Caucasus. Also arguable remains the problem of the cultural periods of the sites abandoned by migrants from the southern slopes of the Caucasus (the post-Kura-Arasian period according to V. L. Rostunov's terminology).
During recent decades, new evidence has been obtained enabling us to supplement A. A. Iessen's scheme with an additional stage preceding the Privolnensky one. The scale of the periods of Caucasian sites has become more exact owing to the discovery of Novotitarovsky and early catacomb (рге-Donetsky) sites in the steppe Ciscaucasia and Azov Sea region.
Types of artefacts characteristic of the early stage of the MBA are represented among the grave goods from a kurgan burial near the village of Uspenskoye on the left bank of the Kuban River (Лопатин, 1993). For mat reason M. B. Rysin proposed the name of Uspensky to the initial pre-Privolnensky stage of MBA metalworking in the Northern Caucasus (Рысин, 1996a; 1996в).
It seems of importance to define the chronological boundaries of the «beginning of the Uspensky stage» - from the final period of the Novosvobodnenskaya culture until the «peak» of the so-called North-Caucasian culture (which corresponds to the horizon with stemmed vessels and the distribution of artefacts of the Sachkheri types throughout the Central Caucasus). In the steppe zone, sites of the early Uspensky stage correspond to the pit-grave and Novotitarovsky burials with the early types of hammer pins with a cylindrical shaft (and to the late pit-grave and early Poltavkinsky burials on the Volga). It must be repeated that all of the known complexes of the beginning of the Uspensky stage (Andryukovskaya, Pervomayskaya, Timashevskaya, Kelermesskaya, Lebedi etc.) are preceding to the appearance of the oldest catacomb sites in the Azov region and on the Lower Don (i. e. to the second stage according A. V. Kiyashko's periodic scheme: A. B. Кияшко, 1999).
After the identification of the features of tools of the Uspensky phase, it seemed interesting to study the source of those innovations. These tools clearly demonstrate certain differences (at the level of their traits but not in their types) with artefacts of the antecedent Novosvobodnenskaya culture of the early Bronze Age. It is this fact that has actually allowed us to distinguish the Uspensky stage. Comparative typological analysis has shown that the prototypes of all new objects are found in the southern Caucasus at sites of the late phase of the Kura-Arasian culture, Sachkheri kurgans (shaft-hole axe with cylinders, pseudo-out-turned-butt axe of the Uspensky type, T-shaped pins) and in Anatolian centres of metalworking of the early Bronze Age (outturned-butt axe, elongated «privolnensky» adze, chisels of sub-square or eight-sided section, knives, amulets/ornaments etc. ). All of the innovations mentioned were adopted in the northern Caucasus probably through Transcaucasian migrants who thus filled the role of a stimulator of the cultural transformation of the beginning of MBA in the northern Caucasus.
The possible absolute dates of the beginning of the Uspensky phase of MBA are 28/27th-25th centuries ВС.
