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The article deals with one of the 8 sectors of electrum overlay of the famous silver mirror from Kelermes dated 650-620 c. B.C. Sector 6 was decorated with the rather realistic depictions of three wild animals — the fox, the bear and the bird. Author tried to put the depictions in the wide range of stylistic and subject analogies and parallels and to compare each of them with the representations of those animals known in Greek art. Author also tried to show that in the composition of the Kelermes mirror overlay combine and interlace several stylistic traditions (“East-Greek”, “Aegean”, “Minor Asian”, “Scythian”) and to illustrate this idea by giving as an example the depictions of sector 6. The material of the overlay of Kelermess mirror — electrum — was an object of special interest. The analysis of metal made in 1904 in Saint-Petersburg gave 78% of gold. According this result we can conclude that the overlay have been made of natural mixture — so-called white gold. Moreover we can compare by the gold content the electrum of Kelermes overlay with the examples of that metal from the Pactolus river near ancient Sardis, the capital of Lydia.
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According to Classical sources, the Greeks knew about the military use of the dogs in Greece better than in the rest world. And so there is no clear understanding as to the use of battle dogs among the Hyrcanians, the Celts and the Garamantes. The earliest mentions of battle dogs come from Asia Minor, where in the early 1st millennium B.C. the chase from the chariot for deers and lions was very popular. Later on, even when a horse replaced a chariot, the passion for it preserved. Apparently, this chase function developed into battle one. First, the same chasing dogs were employed in battle, but subsequently dos were specially trained to fight against the men. In action, such dogs, like in European Medieval times, must have attacked the hostile horses which represented for them as a kind of game. As long as in the second quarter of the 1st millennium B.C. in Anatolia, at least in its western part, the riders dominated on battle-field, the dogs’ assault against the mounts prevented the horsemen for some time from fighting efficiently, as they had to repulse the dogs. From the autochthons the use of battle dogs was accepted by the local Greeks. When in the 6th century B.C. the phalanx had finally forced out archaic Greek riders and mounted hoplites, then the employment of dogs on battle-field came to an end. It is to be thought that in the 4th century B.C., in the course of the permanent wars between Greeks, followed with frequent sieges and, as a result, the appearance of poliorcetics as a special branch of warfare, dogs were used again with military purposes, in particular, in auxiliary service: guarding, patrolling and even delivering messages. At the Hellenistic age, there were established especial units of huntsmen who dealt with the breeding and training of dogs intended for chasing, catching and fighting (mainly for defending fortifications). The system of defense was perfecting itself: in the 4th century B.C. dogs were tied outside the fortifications in order to catch deserters and to give the signal as soon as possible by barking about the approach of the foes; later on, they were placed inside, on towers, together with the huntsmen who had to determine why the dog is barking and to notify, if necessary, the guards to give alarm.
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The author minutely analyses history of archaeological study of the Chersonese urban necropolis in the Classic and Hellenistic Time. Although achievements of these studies appear to be significant, the scholars should pay attention to the following problems: a) clarification of necropolis’ topography; b) dating the undated burials and correction of the dates on already dated burials; c) such features like burial vaults and family tombs also require archaeological study.
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The article is devoted to a problem of creation of middle Hallstatt (VIII-VII B.C.) culture Basarabi-Sholdaneshti in Dniestr-Prut rivers basins. The author consider two coexisted lines of cultural development of these antiquities: the ornamented (on the Saharna basis and classical Basarabi foundation) and the fluted (on the Babadag III basis). The article also contains the declaration on Illyrians presence in Early Iron Age in Northern Pontice region.
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The period of Middle and Late Hallstatt epoch is characterized by a «total» Illyrisation. The genesis of categories of many things relates exactly to the territory of Illyria. The population of this region represents mixed tribes of Illyrian-Thracians. My work intends to clarify the relative chronology of this region, on the base’s of big, good researched cemeteries of this period — Balta Verde, Gogoşu, Basarabi, Ieşelniţa, which I call «main» sites. The majority of investigations made by Romanian archaeologists in this domain have one important demerit — they build the relative chronology on the basis of synchronization of these sites with common European chronology. Therefore it is so necessary, while studying this region to build the relative chronology on the basis of the local sites. In my work these sites were observed at first as a whole cultural event. And also, one feature of this work is that chronology was built on the basis of metal things: weapons and decorations. I analyse in detail the typology of the items, for one part was offered a new typology, for the other one were used typologies of other researchers.As a result the relative chronology for these burial sites was built. The cemeteries Balta Verde and Basarabi are synchronic and divided into 3 chronological phases each. The cemetery Gogoşu was divided into 2 chronological phases. The first is synchronic with the last phases of Balta Verde and Basarabi. The cemetery Ieşelniţa presents the last stage of Hallstatt epoch, which is followed by the early Latene, and stands chronologically after Gogoşu. The results can be considered both in whole, and individually.
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Differences in the burial rites of various Classical polises suppose different cults and religious and philosophic doctrines at the basis of this or another type of rite. The article analyses peculiarities of infant burials from the cemeteries of European and Asian Bosphorus, mainly dated by VI- III c. B.C. Data of more than 500 of such burials are used. The analysis has a broad comparative base from the Classical necropolises of the Aegean-Pontus basin. As a result, two ritual traditions of infant burials are distinguished for the Upper Black Sea region. According to the first one, the so called “adult”, the infant burials practically show no difference compared to the adult population. This tradition is characterised by a small number of burials without goods, while among the goods terracotta is often found. Its fullest representation the “adult” ritual found in the necropolises of Apollonia, Tomis, Istria and Olbia. According to the second tradition, burials are done in vessels (amphorae, pyphos, sometimes in ordinary handmade pots). These burials, as a rule, contain no goods. A rather big number of burials in vessels found in the necropolises of various Pontus centres, which are considered Miletus’ apoikias on the one hand, and the fact that this rite is not typical of Miletus, on the other hand, allow coming back to the question about citizens of other, island and coastal Asia Minor polises, participating on the early stage of colonisation along with Miletus. Thus, for instance, in case of the settlement on the island Berezani, these could be natives of Rhodes Island. Thus the data on the infant burial rite can be used for clarification of the situation around those cities of the Black Sea region, particularly Bosphorus, whose metropolises are still unknown.
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This article is an attempt to transfer some archaeological methods, which make up the complex procedure preliminarily called «situative reconstruction», on materials of Nikolaevka cemetery (Odessa region, Ukraine). Correlation method or seriation was selected as basic tool for solution of the problem of internal chronology of the Nikolaevka cemetery. Correlation method and horizontal stratigraphy are fundamental for revealing internal dynamics of various types of artifacts and their regular combinations. Besides, a comparative anthropological analysis of graves can serve as a procedure of calibration of the obtained results. All this complex of the used methods is an integral procedure of situative reconstruction of the site, its chronology and interpretation. As a result of seriation of the cemetery some laws in development of grave goods have come to light and the groups of graves were distinguished. The absolute dates are too wide for strict distinction of phases, therefore the method of «narrow datings» was used as suggested by M. Shchukin. The first phase of male and female graves can be dated by the second — third quarter of IV c. BC, the second phase — second half of IV c. BC, and the third – by the late IV — first half of III c. BC. The horisontal stratigraphy helped to make clear the line of development of the cemetery. It was clarified that the cemetery developed on the line north-south. The types of offensive arms concentrate in northern, the earliest part of the cemetery. It can be quite interpreted as a sharp emission of male military graves at the early stages of existence of the cemetery connected with a growth of Scythian military activity in the region. To check this hypothesis, and also to explain the distinctions in rates of development of male and female material culture, the analysis of anthropological material was pursued. Having checked up this hypothesis, also supported by concentration of complete sets of offensive arms at early phases of existence of the cemetery, it was found out that the similar peak of quantity of the dead 25-year men is characteristic only for the first group of graves which is situated in the northern part of the cemetery. For other territorial groups such phenomenon was not observed. It is possible to conclude that at the early phases of existence of the cemetery (mainly the second phase of male graves), the population which left Nikolaevka cemetery, took part in military activities roughly dated by the third quarter of IV c. BC. The obtained result is an additional evidence in favour of written sources telling about participation of Scythians of our region in military activities in North Pontic region. The activity of Scythians of Nikolaevka site seems to be connected with wars of Ateas.
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The reviewed collection of articles highlights the problems connected with study of red-lacquered pottery of the Hellenistic and Roman time in the North Pontic region. The grouping of the articles is thematic. The first block is historiographic and theoretical. It is dedicated to the methods and history of red-lacquered pottery study, and also criticises some modern researchers of the classical Antiquity. Very peculiar are the papers by Western colleagues, whose experience in studying this type of pottery is rather more essential compared to the studies of the Soviet and compatriot scholars. The most significant problem is to distinguish Pontic centres of red-lacquered pottery production. The first solutions of this problem are presented in the work by D.V. Zhuravlev. The next group of articles are publications of materials recovered from closed assemblages. This information is a great support to development of Hellenistic and early Roman time. And the last are publications of the results of the new researches in the field of archaeometrics of the red-lacquered vessels.
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Even though the ancient solar cult goes back to the early days of the Roman Republic, it had to wait for a long time to gain far-reaching acceptance. Emperors were fond of increasing the influence of Deus Sol in society on both political and religious grounds. Initially, they took great care to ensure that their personal prestige remained more important than that particular influence. However, during the late Principate-period, with the continuous growth of syncretistic and monotheistic tendencies, the cult of the Sol Invictus increased the people’s reverence towards the ‘creators’ of the cult. The purpose of this study is to examine this process in the light of religious policy and philosophical research.
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In this paper the author returns to a Palaeolithic engraved pebble, decorated with a geometric motif. This object, unearthed from the spoil of early excavations in the cave of La Salpêtrière (Gard), was previously examined by the abbot Breuil whose unpublished and surprising description and tracing of the object are presented here.
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The article presents fifteen new and important archeological sites placed in the mountain area of Suceava county, most of them coming from the superior Paleolithic Age. Several sites belong to the Neolithic Age. The article represents the most important contribution until now in knowing prehistoric house-hold in Bukovina Mountains. The field research, which was extremely difficult in this area of grazing forests, focused on the terraces near the confluence of rivers, such as that of Moldova and Bistriţa. The pieces made of stone that we discovered in these places are only rarely made of silex and quite frequently made of local rocks originated in the Carpathians. During the first stage of research, the discoveries of objects coming from the Upper Paleolithic may be said to belong to the Aurignacian tradition. In turn, the few Neolithic findings (Cârlibaba, Coşna, Câmpulung Moldovenesc), which probably belong to the famous Cucuteni civilization that developed in the course of more than a thousand years, may be associated not only with some hunting expeditions in the mountainous region of Bukovina but also with journeys meant to secure useful minerals as well as native copper or manganese, often used for the decoration of painted ceramics. The stone pieces found near the salt spring of Doroteia/ Frasin, at an altitude of more than 750 metres, represent a singular discovery. If this archeological inventory comes from the Paleolithic, the site might become the attestation of the earliest use of salt by human beings in Romania. Of course, new archeological investigations in the region will be able to better illustrate human presence in this mountain area.
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La présence de nombreuses fusaïolles dans les fortifications que de meme dans les établissements daces des siècles IV av. J.C. – III ap. J.C., témoignent de l’existence du métier- de tordre- chez les autochtones. La matière première en est l’argile, travaillée à la main (sauf les exemplaires, provenant des corps et bases des vases, realisés à la roue du potier –planches VI, VII), rarement en os et en pierre. On enregistre pour les fusaïolles une variété de formes et de motifs décoratifs, dont les exemplaires piriformes sont les plus connus, mais il y a aussi les types bobine, plates, bitronconiques, ou ronds à l’extrémité. Pour la décoration des fusaïolles on a utilisé les ornements incisés (points, lignes ou cercles), mais aussi polis ou alvéolés. En ce qui concerne les formes on peut souligner la prédominance des exemplaires bitronconiques et ronds (plus de 300 exemplaires découverts dans le site archéologique de Brad – Bacău). Certains exemplaires témoignent de la préoccupation des Daces pour retravailler les fragments céramiques en vue d’obtenir les fusaïolles. La période classique de la culture dace (I siècle av. J.C. – I siècle ap. J.C.) marque l’apogée de la technique décorative en ce qui concerne les fusaïolles. On attire l’attention sur le motif décoratif des rayons de soleil qu’on peut mettre en liaison avec le culte du soleil chez les Daces. On peut aussi remarquer les signes écorchés (griffés) – lettres Π,A et V, planches VII/7; IX/7 – les bien-connus „sgrafitti” (graffiti), sur les fusaïolles de Văleni – Neamţ et Brad – Bacău, qui nous permettent d’affirmer que les Daces connaissaient l’alphabet grec et latin. Pour la période suivante on peut remarquer la conservation des formes des fusaïolles et l’utilisation moins fréquente de la décoration en faveur de la simplicité. En ce qui concerne la provenance des fusaïolles, elles ont été découvertes dans les chantiers archéologiques de Brad, Răcătău – Bacău, Poiana – Galaţi, Stăniţa, Tămăşeni, Săbăoani, Rocna, Văleni (l’établissement et la nécropole des Daces libres), Poiana, Pânceşti, Roşiori – Neamţ, datés aux IV siècle av. J.C. – III siècle ap.J.C.
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We present a bronze bolt belonging to the locking mechanism of a Roman-age box, discovered in the village of Brădiceşti, commune of Dolheşti, district of Iaşi, in a settlement of the free Dacians. Boxes with bolts of this type were in use during the 2nd to the 4th century A. D.
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On considère que la présence de ces objets antiques dans ces milieux médiévales de la Moldavie constitue la preuve des préoccupations que certaines personnes, princes régnants ou grands boyards ont eu en ce qui concerne l’histoire antique, manifestée par la collection, en premier lieu, des inscriptions grecques et latines.
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From 1997 to 2011 on the small island Prevlaka of Saint Archangel Michael near Tivat in Boka bay, systematic archaeological excavations have been carried out. The scope of this article is to shown one part of preliminary results of the investigations, related with the antique and early Byzantine archaeological stratigraphy (from 2nd century BC to11th century) which were the basis of the later medieval monastery and Archbishop seat of Zeta. To understand all historical process through the large period of time it will be necessary to spent more than a decade,studying an enormous quantity of findings, and this work is only introduction in scientific approach for understanding one of the most interesting site on Eastern Adriatic coast
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Starting from a discussion against the notions of a unified ‘public religion’ my focus during the past decade has been on ‘religious individualization’ and the fluidity of religion captured by the concepts of ‘lived ancient religion’ and ‘religion in the making’. These concepts focus on the inherent dynamic qualities of those cultural products that I identify as religion in the course of historical analyses. And yet, the undeniable presence of traditions and even canones can be conceptualized beyond a world of individually fragmented religious practices and beliefs and incipient, ever-changing and also dissolving institutions that would be clustered together only in the form of narrative shorthand terms by historians. The paper offers a theoretical reflection on a concept of religion useful for the question of tradition and canonization, building on earlier proposals and developing those further by developing the notion of sacralisation. This will be framed by an historical assumption, namely that the processes of interest here are pushed in urban contexts. Here, my focus will be on the ancient Mediterranean.
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