Archaic Trade Amphoras

D. E. Chistov, Iu. I. Ilyina, A. A. Eremeeva, O. E. Shcherbakova. Materials
of the Berezan (Lower Bug) Archaeological expedition. Volume 3. The Site of Berezan in the Studies of 2010–2014. St-Petersburg 2020. With separate contributions of I. Polinskaya and A. K. Kasparov.
(See the english summary on the pages 431-432).

The newly surveyed settlement at Celic Dere Monastery/Cassiana was field assessed, in 2013 and 2014, by geophysical survey (magnetic method), aerial photogrammetry and systematic collecting of surface materials. LiDAR data was used as an integrative background of the landscape analysis. The discovery is meaningful because it gives the opportunity to discuss once more, and with enhanced elements, the impact of Greek colonisation in western Pontus upon the aggregation processes of local populations. The proximity of two contemporaneous large settlements characterized by the same rich mix of materials (consisting of Archaic and Classical periods amphorae fragments, Archaic monochrome grey wheel-made ware and hand-made local pottery of late Hallstatt tradition), even if for the Monastery settlement the considered pottery originates only from surface surveys, reveals the consistent demography of the communities inhabiting the high hills bordering the Danube, their endurance in the same places from late Hallstatt till early Hellenistic period, and their organisation in habitation nuclei based on steady markets directly connected with the western Black Sea Greek colonies, of which Orgame and Istros were located at ca. 50-60 km to the south-east.

The article is devoted to the assemblage of finds from the well excavated
by the State Hermitage archaeological mission under the direction of K.S. Gorbunova in
1963–1964 on the Berezan island. Transport amphorae are represented by the Samian,
Lesbian and Klazomenian production. In addition, fragments of handles belonging to
Cypriot basket-handle amphorae appear in the same deposit. The filling of the well
contained the significant number of complete and fragmented tableware vessels of the
Corinthian, Chian, Attic, North and South Ionian production.
The dating of painted pottery fits into the narrow chronological limits of the second
– early third quarters of the 6th century BC. The deposit of the well is close to the ’border’
deposits and structures precedent to the early stage of the mass construction of stone-and mudbrick
houses in the third quarter of the 6th century BC. Probably, the well is
synchronous with the dugouts of the second quarter of that century but it was filled up in
the course of the rapid urbanization of the colony in the 540s BC or slightly later.

AMPHORAE OF THE FIRST HALF AND MID 6th CENTURY BC FROM
BEREZAN ISLAND
Dmitriy E. Chistov, Sergey Yu. Monakhov, Elena V. Kuznetsova. The article deals with amphorae of various production centers of the late 7th – mid
6th century BC discovered during the archaeological research of the Berezan Settlement and its
necropolis. The study is based on the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, which includes
finds from the excavations of the North-Western sectors of the Berezan Settlement and its
necropolis, conducted by the Museum mission in the 1960s to 1991, as well as investigations of the Hermitage excavation team of the last fifteen years, which were conducted in the framework
of scientific cooperation with the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Science of
Ukraine in the Northeastern part of the island (the «O-Western» sector). The chosen chronological
period in the context of the historical development of the Berezan settlement coincides with the
first construction period, which covers the time before the emergence of the archaic urbanized
colony in the 540s BC.
The deposits containing amphorae finds of the first half of the 6th century BC are represented
by the burials of the necropolis as well as the filling of dugout dwellings, storage pits and wells.
Among them the so-called «boundary» deposits of the second quarter – mid 6th century BC,
stratigraphically preceding the beginning of mass construction of stone and mudbrick houses.
The article focuses on the amphorae of Clazomenae, Teos, Lesbos, Samos, Miletos, Chios,
as well as «protoThasian» amphorae and vessels of the uncertain centers. Several deposits
are of special interest: the filling of well excavated in 1963–1964, pit No. 234 (2016), dugout
No. 73 (2016). These structures provide vivid examples of combinations of transport amphorae
of several manufacturing centers, allowing to specify their chronology. Fragmented amphorae
from the less important deposits together with separate finds gives the opportunity to clarify the
typology. Most of the amphorae were published earlier, but the study is supplemented by some
unpublished vessels.

Despite the relative scarcity of early Archaic shipwrecks in the material record of the eastern Mediterranean, three sites off the Turkish coast provide a persuasive argument for an emerging flourish in communication and cultural exchange centering on Cyprus during the 7th century. Comprised largely of Cypriot basket-handle amphoras, often alongside smaller numbers of Aegean jars, these agricultural cargos collectively suggest that direct trade between Cyprus and East Greece played a key role in the expanding economic interaction between the Aegean and the Levant, as well as the emerging internationalism that marked this period more generally.

During its annual surveys of the Turkish coast in the 1970s and 1980s, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology discovered two early Archaic (7th- to early-6th-century BC) shipwrecks at Kekova Adası (Antalya region) and Kepçe Burnu (Muğla region); Dokuz Eylül University's Institute of Marine Science and Technology is currently involved in survey of the region. The wrecks, marked by a primary cargo of basket-handle amphoras, indicate exchange between Cyprus and the cities of coastal Asia Minor and Corinth. Such Iron Age internationalism may have been driven by an interest in processed agricultural goods such as olive oil.