Northern Black Sea Research Articles

Керамические клейма Книда с эмблемой «нос корабля» (хронологическая группа Iб)

in the article are collected in the form of a corpus the stamps of the initial period of the systematic marking of amphorae in Knidos - stamps with a “prora” or “ship bow” (chronological group Ib). A total of 323 stamps originating from the territory of the Bosporus, Chersonese and Olbia were taken into account. They are distributed unevenly. The main reason ist, that not all museum collections are available and processed. More than half of the stamps of our corpus have been checked against the originals and the rest are taken from IOSPE III and publications. Unfortunately, most of the IOSPE III stamps are not illustrated, moreover in many cases due to the absence of indications of museum numbers, or re-inventorying, certain difficulties arise, during comparing with items stored in museum collections. Most of the studied stamps are stored in the Kerch Museum. Additionally are also involved stamps from other regions of the Northern Black Sea and the Mediterranean areas. In general, the material presented below is the first attempt at a wide coverage of the stamps of this group, which, we hope, will simplify the cameral processing of poorly preserved specimens, and will help, by attracting additional materials, to take a fresh look at the trading activity of Cnidus in the early Hellenistic period.

СОВЕРШЕНСТВОВАНИЕ ТРАНСПОРТНОЙ ИНФРАСТРУКТУРЫ ТОВАРОПРОВОДЯЩИХ ЦЕПЕЙ КАК ФАКТОР РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ ЭКСПОРТНЫХ ПРЕИМУЩЕСТВ СЕЛЬСКОГО ХОЗЯЙСТВА РУМЫНИИ

The relevance of the topic is of high interest regarding the geopolitical conditions in the countries of the Greater and Northern Black Sea region. Topics of economic analysis and research related to Romania are absent in the Russian scientific field. This fact is a scientific gap that we would like to fill. The purpose of the study is to present a new logical architecture for the transshipment of agricultural commodity groups in Romania. The author of the article presents a system of transport and logistics agricultural corridors and multimodal agro-hubs in Romania, which should contribute to increasing the export potential of the industry and the international competitiveness of the country as a whole. The author’s hypothesis (after analyzing the volumes of 24 items of agricultural transit and international food flows based on Customs Service data from 2016 to 2021, passing through and generated by Romania) consist on new algorithms, potential nodes and multimodal hubs of agro-terminals, located along the presented in the article transport corridors.

Egyptian cults in the Northern Black Sea Coast and the Ukrainian Steppe according to epigraphic and archeological monuments (6th century BCE – 4th century CE)

Egyptian cults in the Northern Black Sea Coast and the Ukrainian Steppe according to epigraphic and archeological monuments (6th century BCE – 4th century CE)

Древнейшие греческие географы о Понте Евксинском и его окрестностях

Anaximander of Miletus, Hecataeus of Miletus and Scylax of Caryanda, representatives of the Archaic Ionian scholarship, were the earliest Greek geographers (6th century B.C.). The philosopher Anaximander drew the first map (still very schematic one); the historian Hecataeus improved this map towards more detailed elaboration and also wrote the first periegesis (“Description of the Earth”); the seafarer Scylax was the author of the first periplus (although at such an early stage of development of Greek prose literature the genres of periegesis and periplus still had little difference between each other). The article deals with extant data of these writers on the Black Sea and adjacent regions. To be true, there is no such information in Anaximander’s fragments, and rather little in Scylax’s ones (mainly on the area of the Straits); but Hecataeus’ fragments contain it in abundance. That author’s geographical treatise was a virtually exhaustive description of lands known at his time, surely including coasts of the Black Sea and the nearby Azov Sea. Hecataeus measured the size of the Black Sea (at the map rather than “in nature”). It is he who is likely to have for the first time used the famous and very popular in antiquity image of the Pontus as a Scythian bow. Of interest is the question where in the Black Sea region the scholar drew the border between Europe and Asia; the article gives arguments in favour of the opinion that for him the border was not the Don River, as later in Herodotus, but the Kuban River. Meanwhile, the territory that is now the Taman Peninsula (it was an island in antiquity) belonged to Asia according to Hecataeus. In the “Description of the Earth”, there is the first in the narrative tradition evidence on Phanagoria – one of the most significant Greek colonies at the territory of Russia, later the second in importance center of the Bosporan Kingdom. Amazons are localized by Hecataeus near the Thermodon River rather than in the Northern Black Sea Region, as Herodotus and Hellanicus later did.

Этническая карта Северного Причерноморья на рубеже эр

The article discusses the complicated theme of the localization of peoples and tribes in the northern Black Sea region at the turn of epochs. The authors use the method of interpretation of ancient authors’ information while comparing it with broad archeological data. The research allows to successfully localize particular peoples and numerous tribes of the given time on the ethnic map of the region. The research shows that most tribes and peoples left a bright trace in ethnic history of the northern Black Sea region. However, not all ethnic groups dwelling there at that time found their place in the region’s geographical space. Some localizations still belong to scientific uncertainties. This confirms the relevance of the research. In addition to a thorough analysis of the ancient written tradition, the authors also involve archaeological material to prove the location of the tribes. Thanks to this comprehensive study, it has been established that after the few recorded Sarmatian burials of the II–I centuries BC in the areas between the Dnieper and the Don and in the north-western Black Sea coast, the number of Sarmatian monuments of the second half of the first century B.C – early first century AD to the west of the Dniester increases sharply. Several barrow burial mounds of the Zubo-Vozdvizhensky group of Sarmatian monuments appeared on the left bank of the Kuban River in the second half of the first century BC, which differ in some respects from the Central Sarmatian complexes of the Kuban area. The tombs have pronounced Central Asian cultural elements. In this respect the authors pay special attention to the decay of Southern Ural steppes at the turn of the our era due to aridisation and shift of the center of Middle Sarmatian culture towards the Lower Don. Thus, the study confirms the enormous role of migrations from the depths of Asia in the formation of the Middle Sarmatian culture and in the emergence of many innovations in the Sarmatian culture of the first century AD.

Prerequisites for the formation of gold spreads on the Ukrainian Shield and on its southern framing

The presence of numerous native gold deposits of the Ukrainian Crystalline Shield (UCS), as well as the spread of placer gold manifestations, determines the high probability of the formation of precious metal placers with industrial parameters here. The main factors and geological conditions that contribute to the formation of gold placers are manifested in the UCS. An important reason for the failures of previous geological works is the outdated scientific and methodological platform, which involved the search for typical gold-bearing deposits with metal of gravity classes of size. The possibility of significant movement of placer gold in the clayey water flow and the formation of long-distance placers was not taken into account. The traditional slack method used in the study did not make it possible to determine the actual gold content when particles with a size smaller than 0.25 mm predominate in the sample, which is precisely the particle size of the primary sources of the UCS. The applied means of research could not be effective in the absence of the necessary analytical base for determining the gold content, modern methods of studying the geological structure and tectonics of the territories. The negative results did not provide any real grounds for further specialized large-scale research and prospecting for placer gold. Today, it is becoming obvious that placer gold of small and fine grades can easily move over considerable distances in the water flow and form accumulations not only in boulder-pebble material, but also in pelite sediments. As a result of repeated changes in the tectonic plan of block movements, gold-bearing accumulations could be eroded and redeposited in secondary reservoirs. In this aspect, neotectonic studies (using materials from space surveys) become the main predictive and prospecting method for identifying promising areas of placer gold concentration in the region. Field work should be carried out using drilling and modern methods of laboratory analysis of samples for gold. The results of many years of research give hope for the discovery of real placer gold deposits in the Northern Black Sea region in the near future.

Toponymica Pontica 3. О мнимых и реальных сугдейских топонимах

One of the main problems in studying the toponymy of the Northern Black Sea region is our fragmentary knowledge about it, which is collected bit by bit from written sources, inscriptions, ethnography, etc. Therefore, the discovery of several local toponyms is always a very important event for the toponymy of a region. This note will focus on several toponyms of the medieval Sugdea (modern Sudak), read in one of the glosses in the margins of the Sugdean Synaxarium and introduced into scientific circulation by M. Nistazopulu. A more thorough study of the glosses makes it possible to read the name of the Sugdean mountain – Daut.

Расписная и чернолаковая керамика из кургана 2 курганной группы «Цементная слободка I»

during the study of the necropolis «Tsementnaya Slobodka I» on Ak-Burun Cape in the burial mound 2 the remnants of the funeral feast were found. It was seventeen attic red-figured and black-glazed vessels dated back to the 4th century BC. Fish-plate of Pierides painter and lekythos Talcott class, which were very rare for the Northern Black Sea Region, as well as red-figure pelike and ascos, were among them. In general, the complex has analogies in funeral feasts from the Hospital barrow, South-East Necropolis of Phanagoria and Necropolis of Nymphaeum.

PECULIARITIES OF LAGIS NEAPOLITANA (CLAPAREDE, 1869) (ANNELIDA, POLYCHAETA) DEVELOPMENT IN THE SHAGANY LAGOON (NORTHERN BLACK SEA REGION)

The results of the study of quantitative parameters of development and the character of allometry of polychaete Lagis neapolitana in the conditions of the Shagany estuary (Tuzlovska group of estuaries, northern Black Sea region) were presented. Sampling was carried out at a depth of 1,3 m using a metal frame 1×1 m in size, fixed on the sediment surface. The polychaetes that were found inside the frame were selected by hand by a diver. The average parameters of the abundance and biomass of these invertebrates were determined, which amounted to 113±36 ind.·m-2 and 137,86±44,02 g·m-2, respectively. It was revealed that the length of the protective tubes of polychaetes ranged from 44,0 to 75,2 mm. The outer diameter of their anterior end was 6,4–8,3 mm, and the posterior end was 2,1–3,8 mm. The highest frequency of occurrence (36,9 %) was in specimens with a tube length of 52–57 mm. For the parameters of the outer diameter of the anterior end of the polychaete tube, which ranged from 6,9 to 7,3 mm, the frequency of occurrence was 31,5 %. An analysis of the age-related variability of the ratio of the diameter of the posterior end of the tube to the diameter of its anterior end during the growth of the polychaete and the increase in the length of its tube was carried out. Using correlation-regression analysis, it was found that the relationship between these parameters was inversely proportional. It was shown that the relationship between the parameters of the diameter of the anterior end of the polychaete tube and the parameters of the total mass, body mass and tube mass has the character of negative allometry. The received regression equations make it possible to pass from the size parameters of polychaetes to their weight characteristics with a sufficient degree of accuracy. It was shown that the wet body weight is on average 52,9±1,18 % of the total mass of the polychaete, and the weight of the tube is 47,4±1,51 %. The dry body weight of L. neapolitana averages 15,3±1,07 % of the wet weight. It was noted that the regression equations relating the parameters of the outer diameter of the anterior end of the L. neapolitana tube with the parameters of its mass can be used for studying the productivity of this species in specific habitat conditions.

About Two Gems from the Excavations of 1837 near Anapa

The fund of Baron G. V. Rosen, which today is included in the collection of the Department of Written Sources of the State Historical Museum interesting for archaeologists and historians of the antiquity of the Northern Black Sea region, as it contains information about the first archaeological research in the vicinity of the city of Anapa. In 1837 were carried out excavations of the mounds under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Boguslav Greenfield. Information about this excavations was preserved in his letters and reports to G. V. Rosen. Despite the unprofessional nature of the excavations, the lieutenant colonel tried to preserve and transmit information about the structure of burial mounds and the context of the finds. In some cases descriptions of items are given.Thus, the documents not only contain extremely important information for studying the history of archaeological research, but also provide an opportunity to partially study those finds that have been lost over time. So, in the burial mound 7, among other items of grave goods were found two gold rings with images of Cupids on red inserts. The location of glyptic items is currently unknown, however, in our opinion, the lack of the possibility of a detailed description of objects should not become an obstacle to introducing them into scientific circulation.

К ВОПРОСУ О ХРОНОЛОГИИ БОСПОРСКИХ РЕЛЬЕФОВ С ИЗОБРАЖЕНИЕМ КИБЕЛЫ, ГЕРМЕСА И ГЕКАТЫ

The article deals with the limestone dedicatory relief which was found in Gorgippia. It has the form of a naisk and depicts Cybele on the throne, Hermes with oinochoe and Hecate with two torches. On the cornice of the pediment there is a partially preserved inscription ΑΡTEΜΙ [---], apparently containing the name of the dedicator. As for the dating of the layer from which the reused relief comes, it was probably made in the early 3rd century BC. This allows us to reconsider the dating of other reliefs on the same subject from the Northern Black Sea Coast. Hitherto many researchers have suggested that these reliefs can be dated between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. But analogies from the territory of Attica confirm the point of view proposed here

Supplement to the Macroalgal Flora of the Natural Reserve "Cape Martyan" (Crimea, The Black Sea)

As a result of the materials found in the 2019 monitoring studies, six new species of macroalgae were identified for the marine area of the Nature Reserve "Cape Martyan." They were located on the Southern Coast of Crimea (SCC): <i>Bolbocoleon piliferum</i> Pringsh., <i>Giraudia sphace-larioides</i> Derbès et Solier, <i>Myrionema balticum</i> (Reinke) Foslie, <i>Lithophyllum cystoseirae</i> (Hauck) Heydr., <i>Bonnemaisonia hamifera</i> Har., and <i>Choreonema thuretii</i> (Bornet) F. Schmitz (the latter two species were recorded for the hydrobotanical region "Southern Coast of Crimea" for the first time). Correspondingly, the list of marine macrophytes within the boundaries of the Nature Reserve now includes 160 species and intraspecific taxa at the species rank, which consist of ~ 36% of the total number of macrophytes identified in the Black Sea. Thus, the protected water area near the Cape Martyan continues to function as one of the key refugia for natural phytodiversity in the region. At the same time, <i>B. hamifera</i> is an invasive transforming species that has recently invaded the SCC region. This is a threat to the ecosystem of the Nature Reserve, and in the near future the invasion may cover the entire Northern Black Sea region. The results of this study expand the level of understanding of natural phytodiversity of the reserve, the hydrobotanical region and the region as a whole yet simultaneously indicating a developing problem of biological invasion, which, under the current conditions of the isolated Azov-Black Sea basin, can have catastrophic consequences.

Analysis of the range dynamics of rare species of vascular plants of the flora of Ukraine. 1. Cymbaria borysthenica (Orobanchaceae)

The range dynamics of Cymbaria borysthenica Pall. ex Schltdl. (≡ Cymbochasma borysthenica (Pall. ex Schltdl.) Klokov) (Orobanchaceae) during almost 100 years has been analyzed. This relict species endemic to the Northern Black Sea – Sea of Azov region sporadically occurs in the southern steppe part of Ukraine (with several localities in adjacent eastern territories). It grows mainly on steppe slopes with washed-out soils in steppe, petrophyte steppe and petrophyte communities of the class Festuco-Brometea. The modern range of the species is rapidly shrinking under the influence of anthropogenic factors (plowing of the steppes, construction of hydrotechnical facilities, mining industry in the valleys of the rivers Saksagan, Ingulets, Kamenka, and now also military activities). At present, the species has disappeared from the territories of Crimea and Donbas. Therefore, in order to protect the species, it is necessary to carry out urgent measures to record and confirm the areas of its occurrence and to ban economic activities in these territories until their efficient protection.

Намогильные памятники адыгов в XIV-XVI вв.: общая характеристика и проблема культур-но-этнической принадлежности

The funeral and memorial rites of the Adygs are one of the fundamental, structure-forming elements of the spiritual culture of the people. Starting from the late middle ages and up to the present time, the burial practices of the Adygs have been transformed under the effect of external and internal factors. In the late middle ages, when the predominant part of the Adygs adhered to paganism, under-barrow rite of the dead was dominated at the entire historical space of their residence. Barrows of the XIV-XVI centuries are represented by earth, stone or mixed mounds about a meter high, erected above the buried in a wooden block, usually oriented along the line W - E. Late medieval Adyghe mounds are on the plane and in the foothills. Adyghe mounds can be divided into three local groups: The Eastern Black Sea, Zakubansk (Belorechensk), Kabardino-Pyatigorsk. Each of these groups has its own specifics. The late medieval barrow burial grounds by Adyghs occupies the area from the Northern Black Sea region in the west to the borders of modern plain Chechnya in the east; from the Kuma River in the north to the foothills of the Rocky and Caucasian Ranges in the south (except for burial grounds in the mountains of the North-Western Caucasus, near the modern Karachay villages of Kart-Dzhurt, Uchkulan and Khurzuk). The belonging of the the North Caucasian barrows of the 14th – 16th centuries to the Adygs is confirmed by archeological data, narrative sources and folklore materials.

The Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the South of Ukraine: Tyahin Fortress

The article is devoted to the results of the research of the fortress Tyagin, built by the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas on the territory of the island Bolshoye Gorodishche in the late 14th to early 15th century. The archaeological materials provided valuable information about the syncretism of the complex of monuments on the island, the typology, layout and size of the fortress. It was one of the earliest stone castle-type fortresses on the northern Black Sea coast, a part of the defensive line of the southern borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The fortress’ defensive system included a synthesis of defensive architectural elements, ranging from timber-engineered structures known from Old Russian times to stone walls and buttresses of a new level of fortification in Europe. The fortress was armed with artillery and edged weapons, the main type being crossbows, which were widespread in Lithuania. The fortress of Tyagin was situated at the crossroads of trade routes between the East and the West, at the crossroads of the custom. The artifacts testify to the presence of Lithuanian cultural objects, Genoese influence, contact with Crimea, and trade and economic relations with Poland. The monument is an integral part of the cultural heritage of Lithuania and Ukraine.

Modeling the spatial distribution of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi A. Agassiz, 1865 in the Black Sea using a fuzzy rule-based system

Species distribution models can predict species occurrences in areas where no data is available by finding relationships between occurrences and environmental parameters. In this study, we applied a fuzzy rule-based system to model the spatial distribution of Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Black Sea and predict the probability of its presence throughout the sea. Six variables were used as predictors, including water turbidity, organic and inorganic particulate carbon, photosynthetically active radiation, light absorption by phytoplankton, sea surface temperature, and chlorophyll-a concentration. The results revealed a 0.807 accuracy of the model based on the confusion matrix. The results also showed that photosynthetically active radiation and sea surface temperature were the most important predictors shaping the distribution of this species. The findings also showed that the northern Black Sea was with the highest probability of presence, especially in Ukraine and Russia’s coastal areas. In the coastal areas of Turkey, the highest presence probability was found near Rize, Trabzon, Ordu, and from Sinop to Zonguldak. Therefore, continuous monitoring of the Turkish coastal area is crucial to better understanding the effects of climate change and anthropogenic influences on the further distribution patterns of this invasive ctenophore in the southeastern Black Sea.

Erosion of Coastal Slope in the Zelenka locality, Northern Black Sea Coast of Bulgaria

The study covers a coastal slope along the northern Bulgarian Black Sea coast near Cape Kaliakra, Zelenka locality. The slope is composed of Miocene (Sarmatian), unconsolidated aragonite sediments with limestone interbeds (Topola Formation) and a steep limestone rock ridge (Karvuna Formation). Water flows along the surface of the slope, attached to the karstified and cracked limestones of the two formations. An assessment was made of the material eroded from the slope, composed of aragonite sediments of the Topola Formation, for the period from September 2018 to October 2022. The quantities of this material were measured and laboratory tests of the aragonite sediments were carried out. Their classification characteristics have been determined - grain size composition and plasticity index. Geotechnical studies and mapping of the coastal slope showed that erosion processes in the studied area represent a real geological hazard and can affect the stability of the slope, as well as the integrity of the road.

Swords from Sauromato–Sarmatian Burial Mounds of Western Kazakhstan Analyzed

Introduction. In Eurasia’s history and archeology, the issues of origins, inhabited territories, and political history of Sauromato-Sarmatian tribes remain understudied. Archaeological data are supplemented with messages on Sauromato-Sarmatian tribes contained in works of ancient writers, since no written sources have been found in monuments of those tribes proper. Goals. The study aims to analyze historical sources and archaeological data, examine the history of origins of Sauromato-Sarmatian tribes to have inhabited the Southern Uralsin the Iron Age,and focuses on swords from Sauromato-Sarmatian monuments of Western Kazakhstan. Materials. Swords and daggers that constitute the bulk of finds from burials provide valuable information for determining chronologies of burial grounds or certain burials and identifying areas once inhabitedby the nomadic tribes,with regional features of those tribes be duly distinguished. A. Melyukova, K. Smirnov, A. Khazanov, E. Chernenko, A. Simonenko, P. Shulga, V. Kocheev and other researchers have developed a chronological typology for swords and daggers from monuments of nomadic tribes of the Northern Black Sea, the North Caucasus, and other regions. However, Sauromato-Sarmatian weapons from Western Kazakhstan have remained unstudied without any chronological typology developed. So, the work employs experiences of the above-mentioned researchers and systematizes the available and newlyobtained data to develop a typological classification and chronology of swords from Sauromato-Sarmatian burial grounds excavated in the territory of Western Kazakhstan. Results. The paper notes that the Sauromato-Sarmatians descend from Bronze Age populations to have created the Andronovo and Srubnaya cultures, and had a close relationship with the Saka tribes. It is deemed that Sarmatian tribes were formed on the basis of Sauromatians, i.e. those had had common roots. Furthermore, insights into archaeological data conclude the tribes had lived in the territory of Western Kazakhstan, yield a typological classification of swords discovered in mounds across the region, and result in a scientific analysis. The work attempts a statistical analysis of swords and daggers from Sauromato-Sarmatian mounds of Western Kazakhstan, provides scientific conclusions as to predominant types of weapons and manufacturing technologies. The article also highlights some specific features of sword types identified, areas of distribution, and performs a comparative analysis.

To the question of ethnic and political relationships of the Hunno-Bulgar tribes of IV–VI centuries AD (based on the analysis of a one group of ethnonyms). Part 1.

Written sources of the early Middle Ages recorded several dozen ethnonyms of the steppe tribes, attributed by historians to the peoples of the Hunno–Bulgar circle. This diversity creates certain problems with identifying individual tribes, determining their localization, and analyzing the chronology of their movements. Questions arise as to how these peoples correlated with each other and with large nomadic empires. The main attention of the author was drawn to a group of six similar ethnonyms, which the sources refer to the tribes of the Hunno–Bulgar circle of the 4th–6th centuries: Alpidzurs, Alcildzurs, Amilzurs, Altziagirs, Ultzinzurs, Ultizurs and one anthroponym Ultzindur. Mentions of these ethnonyms can be found in three historians of the 5th–6th centuries: Jordanes, Priscus and Agathias, who brought information about these tribes who lived in Northern Black Sea region. Researchers of the 19th–20th centuries addressed the topic of the studied tribes and their ethnonyms, however, as a rule, in their works, they considered from one to three ethnonyms and did not pay attention to relationships within the entire group as a whole. In this study, for the first time, the information of written sources about all six ethnonyms and tribes to which they belonged is comprehensively considered in connection with the known historical information about the Hunnic and Bulgar confederations of the 5th–6th centuries. The existing historiography is also presented and a conclusion is made about the possible belonging of a number of ethnonyms to one people.

Oleksandr Mykolaiovych Karasiov ⸺ Prominent Researcher of Olbia Pontica (on the 120th Anniversary)

The life of Oleksandr Mykolaiovych Karasiov, a well-known archaeologist, a specialist in antiquity of the Northern Black Sea region, the discoverer of the Olbian agora, stoa, gymnasium and the central temenos of Olbia, was eventful. His biography and the path to archaeology was very thorny and difficult. However, until now the biography of this researcher has not been given enough attention, which is corrected by this article. Oleksandr Karasiov was born in St. Petersburg on August 3, 1902. During his busy life, before becoming an archaeologist, he managed to work as an extra in the health department at the registry office, volunteered in the Baltic Fleet as a journalist, began studying at the Higher School of Pilot-Observers and entered the Institute of Civil Engineers at the Faculty of Architecture. And this is not a complete list. Finally, in January 1925, he entered the Leningrad State University at the Faculty of Linguistics and Material Culture. Since 1926, during his studying at the university, O. Karasiov participated annually in the archaeological excavations at Olbia, which were initially led by B. V. Farmakovskyi, and considered himself as one of his disciples. Since that time, O. Karasiov was a tireless researcher of Olbia for 45 years, includingt 34 field seasons. The greatest archaeological achievements of O. Karasiov were made after the Second World War, when he, together with his wife, O. I. Levi, led the excavations at the «E» site, where for the first time they made the most significant discoveries published in the work Olvia. Temenos and agora and in many other articles. O. M. Karasiov owns the longest list of works on the monumental buildings of the Olbian temenos with a detailed examination of cultural stratifications, a functional definition of various types and purposes of stone structures, among which the most significant are the largest altar in the Northern Black Sea region, the temples of Apollo Delphinius, the spherical foundations of a possible Delphinion and the temple of Zeus of the Hellenistic time, large and small stoas, sacred treasury, etc. A thorough study of the monuments of the Olbian temenos, representing a single architectural ensemble and their publication, rightfully belongs to one of the most important archaeological discoveries made in Olbia and in the Northern Black Sea region in general.