Ceramika importowana z Aten znaleziona w Eltigen Zapadnoe na Krymie

Abstract

This article reports on pottery imported from Athens and found at the site of Eltigen Zapadnoe, located on the south-east coast of the Crimean Peninsula, near the polis of Nymphaion, founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC. The first systematic excavation of this site was carried out in 2013 by Mark Kotin of the Demetra Bene ficial Foundation, based in Kerch.The analysed assemblage includes six black- figure vessels, five red- figure vessels and 99 examples of black-glazed ware. All of this pottery survives in the form of sherds from which it was, nonetheless, possible to determine the shape and chronology of vessels. Among the black- figure vessels is an interesting drinking cup sherd featuring decorative motifs typical of the terminal phase of the black- figure technique, dated to 500–480 BC. The red- figure ware sherds include fragments of two distinctive vessels (probably pelike). The first sherd comes from the side B of the vessel and features a representation of two ephebes – a characteristic composition of vessels dating from the latter half of the 5th century BC. The second vessel depicts a fight between Amazons and grif fins – a motif characteristic of Kerch-style vessels; they can be dated to 350–325 BC.Drinking vessels predominate among the black-glazed ware, the most common type being steemles cups. Bowls are the next most numerous category, other forms represented including lekanides and oinochoai. The majority of black-glazed vessels from Eltigen Zapadnoe can be dated to the third and fourth quarter of the 5th century BC, with only a few examples dating from the first half of the 4th century BC.Most of the pottery from Eltigen Zapadnoe is dated to the 5th century BC, a dozen- -or-so examples can be attributed to the last quarter of the 6th century BC and the first quarter of the 5th century BC – these are black- figure and early black-glazed drinking vessels (mugs, cups, skyphoi). A larger proportion of various black-glazed ware forms is noted in the second quarter of the 5th century BC, whilst the greatest number of vessels made using this technique comes from the third and fourth quarters of the 5th century BC, with only a few dating from the first half of the 4th century BC.The ceramic assemblage recovered from excavations at the Eltigen Zapadnoe site provides a very interesting example of imported Attic ware featuring a wide variety of domestic vessels and tableware. The finely made red- figure and black- figure vessels are especially noteworthy. The large percentage of black-glazed drinking vessels provides evidence of how widespread they were, whilst the range of forms indicates that they were very popular among Greeks living on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Although the analysed assemblage represents the results of only the first excavation season, the abundance of the material suggests that the inhabitants of this settlement had reliable access to products from Attica that were probably imported to nearby large Greek cities, such as Nymphaion and Pantikapaion.