Altar and other terracotta volutes from Olbia Pontica
Altar and other terracotta volutes from Olbia Pontica

Summary/Abstract: The collection of architectural terracotta from Olbia Pontica contains more than a dozen terracotta architectural details with a volute at the core of their composition. One such detail comes from Borysthenes. Their analysis allowed us to identify eight fragments that probably belonged to one detail and to propose its reconstruction and interpretation as a decoration of the altar. The rest, due to their significant fragmentation, allow only a similar use to be assumed. Those volutes that could be reconstructed, at least in general terms, have close analogies in size and composition with stone altar volutes from Miletus and its vicinity, as well as its Pontic colonies, particularly Histria. Against this background, the collection of terracotta altar volutes from the Olbia-Borysthenes region is unique and has no analogies yet.

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