Lease of public lands in Mylasa (3rd–1st centuries BC). Part 1

In 1942, following readjustment works of the road connecting the Saveni and Avrameni communes, a barrow was destroyed, resulting the find of a bronze cauldron. A. Nițu deemed the vessel of Avrameni as part of the series of cauldrons coinciding with the civilisation and expansion of the Sarmatians by the Don and Lower and Mid Danube in the 1st – 4th century AD and dated it to this chronological span. Gh. Bichir argued that the Avrameni cauldron is somewhat later than that of Piatra Șoimului (Calu), which the scholar dated to the 1st century BC. The vessel’s shape resembles that of a “bell” cast together with its handles, while the biconical foot was made separately, the two parts being attached by a bronze cast-made plug. On the body, the vessel displays several repair traces. According to its features and specificities, the Avrameni cauldron belongs to type Demidenko II.1.B, being the single of the type in the area between the Don and the Carpathians. The remaining resembling specimens come from 2nd – 1st century BC complexes from territories left of the Lower Don and the Kuban region. The author believes that according to its shape, the curved vertical handles decorated each with a knob as well as its making manner and foot attachment, the Avrameni vessel is an artefact joining elements specific to the Sauromatian cauldrons used in the Volga and Lower Don area, but also in the Kuban region also in the 2nd – 1st century BC. Within the context of its analysis are also discussed the cauldrons of Bubueci and Velikoploskoe, both from “ritual hoards/deposits” part of a larger group of such features of the 3rd – 1st century BC from territories comprised between the Volga – the pre-mountain area from North Caucasus in the east and the Lower Danube - Prut to the west. The cauldron of Bubueci belongs to type Demidenko I.3.A. It has a body cast together with the handles, while the iconical foot, surviving fragmentarily, was cast separately. Similarly to the Avrameni vessel, that of Bubueci is the most western find of a cauldron of the type. The body shape, curved vertical handles decorated each with three knobs, the lip shape and its making manner, how the handles start from the cauldron rim as well as how they were made, indicate that the vessel combines elements specific to the Sauromatian and early Sarmatian cauldrons. In the case of the Avrameni and Bubueci cauldrons, as well as those similar, the author concludes they are either a continuation of ancient casting traditions or were produced sometime earlier, yet continued to be used for a good period of time after their production cease. The exhibited repair traces and presence far from their territories of origin, where they were made and used, as well as their find together with 2nd – 1st century BC artefacts confirm, according to the author, their use for a longer time span. In the case of the Avrameni vessel, its deposition might have occurred sometime during the 2nd century BC as well as between the end of the 2nd – first decades of the 1st century BC. With respect to the dating of the “ritual hoard/deposit” of Bubueci, the author believes it dates no earlier than the 2nd century BC, and that its framing sometime between mid 2nd century BC and early 1st century BC is very likely. In the case of the Velikoploskoe cauldron, its body shape and sizes resemble those of the Demidenko VI type cauldrons emerging in the 2nd century BC, yet the remaining elements specific to this vessel type are missing. The rudimentary attachment procedure of the foot to the body, rim shape, its making manner, as well as how the handles start from the vessel rim, are according to the author, specific to the Sauromatae and early Sarmatian cauldrons (types Demidenko I-III, V) used in the first centuries BC, which hinders its ascribing to a certain type. Therefore, it was concluded that the Velikoploskoe vessel seems to be intermediary between the 5th - 3rd century BC cauldrons, mainly Sauromatae, and those of the early and mid armatian periods between the 2nd century BC and mid 2nd century AD. Its elements and making manner allow, according to the author, for its dating to the 2nd – 1st century BC, likely only sometime during the 2nd century BC, which is not contradicted by the remaining artefacts in the find.

Публикуются материалы изучения уздечных блях из памятников Алтая хуннуско-сяньбийско- жужанского времени (II в. до н.э. — V в. н.э.). Анализируемая коллекция насчитывает 357 экземпляров от 13 уздечных наборов из могильни- ков Берель, Булан-Кобы-IV, Верх-Уймон, Кок-Паш, Степушка-I, Сары-Бел, Яломан-II. В ходе классификации выделены 16 типов. Типологический анализ позволил определить датировку и генезис данных изделий. Ранние модификации (I в. до н.э. — начало I в. н.э.) представлены типами 3, 5, 11. Данные предметы разрабатывались на основе образцов от конского снаряжения хунну. Новый этап развития уздечных блях у населения булан-кобинской культуры приходится на 2‑ю половину IV–V в. н.э. и также отражает влияние центральноазиатской моды при формировании ременных гарнитур. Данные новации демонстрируют типы 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 12, 15. Бляхи типов 8–10 и 13 могли быть заимствованы из конструкции местных наборных поясов II–IV вв. н.э. Результаты исследования не позволяют говорить о единой линии эволюции уздечных блях на протяжении II в. до н.э. — V в. н.э.DOI 10.14258/izvasu(2016)2-40

The study deals with the question of determining time of the first appearance of the Sarmatians in the Crimean Steppe. Discrepancy between scientific interpretations of ancient written sources and dating by archaeological researches can be observed: while the former admit that the Sarmatians inhabited the Crimean peninsula in 3rd – 2nd centuries BC, the later assume the origin time to be the late 1st century BC. The monument considered in the article is burial 80 of kurgan Ungut-1 which partially helps to overcome this discrepancy. The studied monument is a single burial of a male positioned on his back with his head oriented to the north accompanied by a moulded pot, a fibula, a knife and a bead. These grave goods and, the first of all, fibula date back the burial to the early 1st century BC, and allow this Sarmatian complex to be considered the earliest precisely dated one in the Crimea. This fact indicates the presence of the nomads on the peninsula during the reign of Mithradates VI Eupator. At the same time, the examined monument does not mitigate completely discrepancies existing between ancient written sources and massive archaeological material regarding their timing. The only indisputable fact is that the nomads were there during the events of the Diophantine wars. However, their presence on the Crimean peninsula in earlier periods, especially in the late 4th – early 3rd centuries BC, remains disputable.

Silk Roads

The article is devoted to the semantic and chronological analysis of the images on the plate of white tuff discovered in the city of Stavropol. The central part of the relief is occupied with the image of table - an altar with hoisted bull head (in the background) and the hanging part of bull skin (in the foreground). Between the protruding edges of the hanging skin and lower to the ground (between the legs of the altar) an ancient Greek phrase carved in three lines. The composition is completed by flanking images of two figures in long robes depicted in profile, symmetrically turned to the head of the bull. The figure at the right is an image of a man with a long beard, the lower edge of which is bent forward (priest or king). The figure at the left is a female (queen). Both the man and the woman are holding ritual vessels in hands. The plot of bull sacrifice is typical for the cultural traditions of ancient Greece as well as for ancient eastern states. The fact of combining images and inscriptions peculiar of the Hellenistic culture and ancient Iranian mythology on the Stavropol altar should be associated with the religious policy pursued by the Pontic kings since the second half of the 3rd century BC till the Common Era. This policy was focused on the gradual replacement of local cults by Greek ones in the official pantheon. The reasons for the Asia Minor altar existence in the Stavropol Upland include: 1) the military expeditions of the Sarmatians to Asia Minor in 2nd - 1st centuries BC; 2) the establishment of political and economic ties by the North Caucasus population with the state of Seleucids in the 2nd century BC, with Parthia in the 2nd - 1st centuries BC, and especially with the kingdom of Pontus in the 1st century BC.

The article analyzes the metal fibulae found in 2 burials: the first one in the burial No. 4 from the Kholmskoe cemetery and the second one in the burial No.7 from the kurgan No. 1 near to the Nikolskoe village. These burials appear in most of the generalizing works as the most ancient Sarmatian monuments of the North-Western Black Sea Region, although their exact date is still debatable. Furthermore, the researchers date the complex from the burial Kholmskoe to the different time periods such as: the beginning / first half / the end of the 1st century BC, or even later time.While the burial near to the Nikolskoe village is dated by various time intervals – from the second half of the 3rd century BC to the middle of the 2nd century BC. Acquaintance with the original fibula from the burial No. 4 of the Kholmskoe cemetery, stored in the Odessa Archaeological Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, has allowed the author to identify this sample with the latest form of fibula of the Early La Tene scheme, which existed in the 2nd century BC, possibly in the second half of this century. Additionally, the fibula from the burial No.7 of the kurgan close to the Nikolskoye village should be dated within the 2nd century BC, since it belongs to the “dismembered” fibulae of the Middle La Tene scheme. It is important to highlight that both items, regardless of their narrow dating, are undoubtedly more ancient artifacts compared to the majority of fibulae of the Northern Black Sea region, marking the earliest Sarmatian monuments in the region. Sarmatian antiquities, which are synchronous to the mentioned particular artifacts are inherent only to the Volga-Don steppes and further to the east. In this regard, it is more relevant to correlate the studied complexes under consideration with the simultaneous and territorially close monuments of the Tiraspol group, reasonably associated with the Late Scythian culture.

In recent years, on the territory of rural areas adjacent to the city of Armavir (Russian Federation), historically representing the Zakubanye (Trans-Kuban) region (i. e., the area of the left bank of the Kuban River), the number of bronze mirrors of Scythian and Sarmatian Ages have been found by chance. They entered the museums and museum corners of some cities and villages or were recorded in the private collections with subsequent fixation by local historians. The purpose of this paper is to publish the finds of this category which form a small but quite interesting and expressive series. The earliest of the presented specimens are finds from the village Uspenskоe. The first mirror from the Uspenskoe village (fig. 1: 1, 2) can be attributed to section I, type I, option 1 (mirrors with a central handle, round flat disc with a rim and segment loop) after T. M. Kuznetsova, and can be dated to the 7th—6th centuries BC. The second mirror from the village Uspenskoe (fig. 1: 3, 4) belongs to the 3rd variant of the indicated type, with a trapezoid loop. According to T. M. Kuznetsova, most of these mirrors are dated to the 6th century BC. Mirror 1 (fig. 2: 3, 4) from stanitsa Chamlykskaya can be considered to belong to type II, option 2 (according to I. I. Marchenko), which attributes the mirrors of this option to the 3rd—2nd centuries BC. The findings of modern Russian archaeologists make it possible to confirm the total dating of mirrors with scallops, similar to the published sample 2 from stanitsa Chamlykskaya (fig. 2: 1, 2) as 3rd—1st centuries BC.
 Mirrors 1, 3, 4 (fig. 2: 5, 6; 3: 3—6) from stanitsa Voznesenskaya and mirror 3 from the village Uspenskoe (fig. 1: 5, 6), in our opinion, can be included to the number of copies of type III, version 1 by I. I. Marchenko. The date of the mirrors of this version, according to this author, is the second half of the 4th—3rd centuries BC. Mirror 2 from stanitsa Voznesenskaya (fig. 3: 1, 2) belongs to type I, option 2 according to I. I. Marchenko. The archaeologist dates the finds of type I option 2 to the second half of the 4th — 2nd centuries BC. The mirrors presented in the publication complement the geography and characteristics of the early Iron Age mirrors found in the eastern part of the Trans-Kuban region.

The form and stylistic details of some vessels discovered in Brad and Răcătău settlements dated in 1st century BC – 1st century AD, known in Romanian archaeological literature as ritual vessels with zoomorphic protomes or parallelepipedic vessels with zoomorphic protomes, have none analogies in the indigenous repertory of vessels. The Hellenistic plastic vessels or, more specific, ram-shaped Knidian reliefs have been identified as source of inspiration. Another vessel discovered in Răcătău, known as the ritual barrel-shaped vessel or the rider-shaped vessel, is also suspected to have Hellenistic models as source of inspiration. The research of Hellenistic and Roman pottery that circulated north of the Danube during the period between the 2nd century BC and the beginning of the 2nd century AD allows me to make certain observations on the presence of oinophora on Geto-Dacian sites and on their possible impact on local production.

Ostia, the ancient port of Rome at the mouth of the river Tiber (Italy), flourished until the 2nd Century ad, although massive siltation had already caused the abandonment of its lagoonal harbour in the 1st Century bc. In search of an alternative harbour site, geomorphological and geoarchaeological research was carried out in the ‘Fiume Morto’, an abandoned Tiber meander to the immediate north of the town. To reconstruct its complex development and evaluate the suitability of the river channel as a fluvial harbour, a transect perpendicular to the former river channel's flow axis was systematically explored by a new methodological approach combining electrical resistivity tomography, direct push‐electrical conductivity sensing and vibracores. Together with microfossil, mineralogical and geochemical analyses of sediment samples and 50 radiocarbon dates, in‐depth stratigraphic data support a detailed reconstruction of different Tiber channel generations. Results reveal a meander development closely related to distinct ‘cut and fill’ dynamics. Inactive river channels were repeatedly filled with lagoonal sediments, abruptly followed by phases of intense incision. Yet, the overall Fiume Morto channel structure remained stable and almost in situ over centuries, showing nearly no lateral changes since the southward shift of the Tiber River mouth in the first millennium bc. In the 1st Century bc, channel conditions favoured navigation and transportation of goods with large ships. Open‐water conditions, suitable for anchoring and landing activities, dominate from the 1st Century ad until 1557 ad, when the Fiume Morto meander was finally cut off and silted up within a short time. Within the fluvial deposits, sediments most likely related to tsunami inundations are preserved. These events occurred sometime before the 2nd Century bc, in the early 1st Century ad and in the 17th Century ad or later. Results are consistent with traces of tsunami influence found in Ostia's western lagoonal harbour.

There are different points of view regarding the date of the appearance of the early Sarmatian archaeological culture of the 2nd – 1st centuries BC within the Lower Don region. However, most researches have been of the view that the Lower Don region and the Northeastern Black Sea region were developed by the Sarmatians relatively late, namely not earlier than the second half of the 2nd century BC. The main objective of this study is to define the date of the first appearance of the Sarmatians on the territory of the Don region based on the analysis of the archaeological data from Sarmatian and ancient archeology, as well as information from the literary and epigraphic sources. According to the scale of the relative chronology there is plenty of early monuments in the Sarmatian antiquities within the 2nd century BC. However, the number of chronological indicators in Sarmatian burials of this time horizon is relatively low. On the basis of the Rhodian amphora with stamps, black-glazed cantharoi and Megarian bowls, the date of the earliest complexes can be set within the second or third quarters of the 2nd century BC. The arrival of the Sarmatians had a general destabilizing effect on the situation in the Don region and the Northeastern Black Sea region. The destruction of settlements and the devastation of territories were recorded on the Bosporus. The city of Tanais in the Lower Don region was fortified in the second quarter of the 2nd century BC. The first reliable mentions of the Sarmatians in official documents are dated to the end of the first – the beginning of the second quarter of the 2nd century BC (the treaty is dated 179 BC, Delphic manumissions). Further the authors conclude that the first appearance of the Sarmatians in the Lower Don region and the Northeastern Black Sea region is associated with the movement of nomadic tribes as a result of the expansion of the Xiongnu state, formed at the end of the 3rd century BC, which reached the Russian southern steppes as a result of domino effect.

Introduction. The problem of selecting monuments of the 3rd century BC in the Early Sarmatian culture came into sight during the process of discussing the reasons for the fall of Scythia, when it became clear that the Early Sarmatian funerary monuments in the Northern Black Sea steppes are recorded starting from the 2nd century BC, a hundred years after the alleged destruction. Methods and materials. During the research process the scientists came to the conclusion that there are no imports of the 3rd century BC in the burials of the Lower Volga region and the Southern Urals. Some researchers stated the absence of monuments of this time in the indicated territories, while others continued to search for new approaches. As a result, they proposed the the method of “clamped” dating, which allows us to distinguish a stratum between well-dated complexes of the 4th and 2nd – 1st centuries BC. Analysis. In the course of clarifying the situation in the original Sarmatian territories, some researchers have decided to devide the reference early Sarmatian burial ground Prokhorovka into two groups, not only chronologically, but also culturally. The 3rd century BC became a time separating these groups, elusive according to these authors, not only in the Northern Black Sea region, but also in the Volga-Ural steppes. Opposing this point of view, supporters of the culture of continuous development in the 4th – 1st centuries BC pay attention to the unity of the funeral rite throughout the entire period, and the lack of well-dated imports is explained by crisis phenomena and migration processes, when old contacts with civilizations are crashing and new ones have not yet been established. The discussion that unfolded in the 90s of the 20th century with the accumulation of new materials and clarification of old dates periodically revived, updated with new participants, but the position of opponents has not really changed. The proposed article is devoted to evaluating the arguments of both sides. Results. The method of “clamped” dating is not the most universal, considering the constantly growing database of sources and its corrections. But this method works and many scientists continue to rely on it. A simple statement of the impossibility of identifying monuments of the 3rd century BC, when the existence of the monuments of this time is asserted, seems even more surprising than the assertion of the “hiatus” of the 3rd century BC, in the Volga-Ural steppes region.

A new season of studies on the Etruscan-Roman city of Musarna have allowed us to establish that the city was occupied from the end of the 4th century BC up to the beginning of the 7th century AD, and that its foundation depended on a strategic and economic need of the Etruscan metropolis of Tarquinia, of which Musarna maintained its role of colony up approximately to 280 BC, when the entire territory was conquered by Rome. Later, the inscriptions and the epitaphs found in the site and in the nearby necropolis show that until the 1st century BC the only language spoken in Musarna was Etruscan, and that at least throughout the Hellenistic period, the administrative organization remained based on the model of a large Etruscan city. Therefore, the infrastructural networks, only partially restored later on, are fully Etruscan, as are the entire defense system and some public buildings, including a market and a portico built during various stages of the renovation of the square between the 3rd and 2nd century BC, as well as sacred buildings, such as two temples probably dedicated to Hercules and Bacchus. The excellent quality of the documentation of the urban plan made it possible to undertake a study aimed at determining the city’s spatial tracking practice. Some important considerations and insights on the organization of the territory have already emerged from this study and, in particular, we were able to verify on a territorial basis the size of the design module which had already identified on an urban scale. While this may already be considered an important result, the evidence of a design set on particular geometric properties prompts the investigation to highlight particular aspects of the Etruscan plan.

SummaryAn intensive archaeomagnetic investigation of an Italian Roman amphorae workshop has been carried out in order to produce high quality data to enhance the European archaeomagnetic database. Additionally, and importantly, this study also investigates within and between structure variations and, the influence of anisotropy and cooling rate corrections. Eighty-six oriented samples were taken from five kilns for full geomagnetic vector (directions and intensity) determination. Additionally, cores from 39 amphorae found at the site were drilled for archaeointensity analysis. The site is archaeologically dated as being between 2nd century BC and 1st century AD, and the amphorae as being 1st century BC. A full suite of rock magnetic experiments were carried out which indicate the samples' suitability for archaeointensity experiments. The classical Thellier method with correction for anisotropy of thermal remanence (TRM) was used to determine the direction of the characteristic remanence and the archaeointensity. Differences between fast and slow cooling during remanence acquisition were investigated and a cooling rate correction applied to the archaeointensity estimates. After correction for anisotropy of TRM, the scatter about the kiln (amphorae) mean value is reduced and the scatter between kilns is also reduced for both directions and archaeointensity, demonstrating the necessity of carrying out the anisotropy of TRM correction for these samples. Application of the cooling rate correction results in a decrease in archaeointensity as expected on theoretical grounds for single domain grains. The correction, whilst not reducing scatter in the mean archaeointensity results, does result in a reduction in the scatter found between the kilns. The directional results are compared to the French, and a preliminary Italian, secular variation (SV) curve and suggest that the kilns may be towards the older limit of the archaeologically given age however the master curves are not well constrained in this time interval. Instead, the five new directional data should be used to help constrain future curves. The Albinia archaeointensity data are consistent with the broad trends seen in the limited high quality Western European and Mesopotamian data sets and with the newly constructed archaeointensity SV curve for Greece. Similar to other studies whilst the archaeointensity results for each kiln (the amphorae) are well constrained (4–7 per cent scatter about the mean) variations are seen between the kilns (mean archaeointensity 62–70 μT). This further supports the suggestion that it is necessary to obtain a number of archaeointensity data for each time interval in order to reliably record variations of the Earth's magnetic field from archaeological material. The archaeointensity result for the set of amphorae which has the better constrained age falls within the archaeointensity values from the kilns. Combining the results from the five kilns and the amphorae gives a mean archaeointensity of 64 ± 3 μT at Albinia (69 ± 3 μT relocated to Paris) during 200 BC–100 AD.

This article argues that the conclusions in the prevailing modern scientific literature on the formation of the Great Silk Road 3rd‑2nd millennium BC or from the 4th‑3rd centuries BC cannot be considered reasonable in light of available scientific and archival evidence. Until the 3rd‑2nd centuries BC at the western and northern borders of Xinjiang Region the predominantly Caucasoid population of Xinjiang contacted the related cultures of Kazakhstan and Sayano-Altai, but did not have any noticeable or documented trade (exchange) connections with the eastern Mongols of the Gansu Corridor, nor with farmers of ancient China and nomads of Northern China. Significant migrations of the population from Xinjiang to China and in the opposite direction between the third and the first half of the 1st millennium BC according to the available archaeological records has not been observed. The Silk Road from China through Xinjiang to the west with the direct involvement of the Chinese, only begins to function in the 1st century BC, and then only when the Han Empire at great cost finally succeeded in pushing the Hunnu out of Xinjiang, and established control over this territory. This event was preceded by active trade relations between the northern kingdoms of China and the nomads of Southern Siberia in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC and the delivery of the gifts to the Huns from the Han Dynasty in the 2nd century BC. This enabled silk and varnish products to penetrate Southern Siberia, Central Asia and then back into Xinjiang

Aurum atque ambitio. Ambitus in mid-Republican Rome. The crime of ambitus has been commonly studied with respect to the several juridical interventions against the ambitus that were enacted in the fi rst half of the 1st century BC. This paper, instead, stresses that cases of bribery also occurred throughout the 3rd and the 2nd centuries BC, although traces of these cases are not as rich as the extant evidence for the 1st century BC. Evidence from Cato the Elder, which has been never studied in connection with the crime of ambitus, and especially from Polybius shows that the ambitus was a phenomenon at the center of the Roman political and historiographical refl ection already in the fi rst half of the 2nd century BC. It is probably in this period that the concept of ambitus, in its multifaceted acceptations, was fi rst associated with the idea of demagogy and subsequently seen as a danger for the state. russofed@libero.it