HANDMADE LAMPS FROM TYRAS

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The publication considers handmade lamps from Tyras, which are stored in the scientific funds of the Institute of Archaeology of the NAS of Ukraine and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Local History Museum. Lighting devices are divided into five types by shape: from semi-closed post-Hellenistic forms with an elongated nozzle, to wide-open forms, so-called boat-shaped lamps. Of particular interest are several rare forms (the 6th type) that are difficult to correlate with any type. All items in this publication are dated by the period from the 4th century BC to the 4th century AD. In addition, the authors managed to find similar analogies not only in the North-Western Black Sea region, but also beyond its borders.
 Handmade lamps were not items of mass production and were not intended to be widely traded. Nevertheless, they were used not massively, at a considerable area from the Northwest Black Sea coast to the Cimmerian Bosporus during the period from the 4th century BC to the 4th century AD. The abovementioned lamps, unlike certain types of handmade wares, can not be used as an ethno-indicative feature. During the periods of political and economic destabilization, the decline of crafts and trade could have led to the need for the production of handmade wares and lamps in particular.