Attic Black-Glazed Pottery from the Collection of the Archaeological Museum of the IA NASU

Abstract

Amount of Attic tableware and ceremonial ware finds in the Northern Black Sea region is large, and that is why they are so important since they provide information for detailed chronology of ancient material. The collection of finds from Olbia, which is exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of the IA NASU is quite numerous. The investigated part of the material includes Attic black-glazed pottery, which was found in Olbia in different years at various sites of excavations, from 1962 to 2000. The vast majority of the studied collection consists of vessels for drinking wine — eleven vessels of sixteen studied, dating by the Athenian Agora from 500 to 325 BC. Pottery for wine are represented by cups and kantharoi in various types. These are the cup — «bolsal» — two examples; cup-kantharos — two examples; one Hellenistic kantharos with an applique ornament and one kantharos — microform; cup-skyphos; stemmed dish; cup «delicate class» and a stemmed cup («vicup»). «Opened» types of pottery include a bowl with an outturned rim 350—325 BC and a fish plate 350—325 BC, a saltcellar from the same time of production. Rare finds of «closed» pottery forms are oinohoe with a relief ornament of V century BC. All the forms above have direct analogies in the material from the Athenian Agora and finds of Attic black-glazed ware from other cities of the Northern Black Sea. These forms belong to the ceremonial tableware and demonstrate an active trade relation of Olbia with the Attic region during the Classical and Hellenistic time. The abundance of analogies from the ancient sites of the Black Sea region, including the cities of the Bosporus, as well as Chersonesos, Tyras, Histria, Apollonia, necropolises and settlements of their rural districts, proves that the import of Attic ceramics to Olbia was a part of a large trade expansion from Attica to the cities of Pont Euxine in V—IV centuries BC. Trade relation were systematic, developing consistently, covering more and more ancient cities of the Black Sea region and beyond. Olbia was a strategic point on the main trade route to other cities and settlements along the western coast, across Olbia. For this reason, almost all categories of this type of tableware are among the finds of the settlement and necropolises of the city. Olbia’s collection of materials is a benchmark for other Northern Black Sea cities, which is why it needs thorough analysis and careful attention.