The Fort of Sivag-Kermen in the South-Western Crimea. A New Byzantine Castle in Procopius of Caesarea’s Land of Dory (General Results of 2015–2017 Archaeological Research at the Site)

Abstract

The fort of Sivag-Kermen is located atop a small hill 5 km south of the village of Verkhnesadovoe of the Nakhimov district of Sevastopol. N. I. Repnikov was the first to mention the site in his yet unpublished materials to the archaeological map of the South-Western Crimea. The first full-scale archaeological research of the site was conducted in 2015–2017. This paper presents general results of these works. The isolated fort measures 47.50 x 25.00 m (overall area covered of 1187.50 square meters), comprising five curtain walls and three towers protruding from the northern line. The same construction technique applied to all the walls and towers suggests that they were built up simultaneously. No trace of reconstruction or repair has been found so far, thus indicating that the site existed throughout the only construction period. Defensive towers were square in plan, with the side measuring 3.20–3.60 m, and the curtain wall and tower wall measuring 2.00–2.10 m. The entrance gate was in the eastern curtain wall. The environs of the site feature a large settlement site, an ancient road, and individual wine-making complexes. The fort dates from the middle to the second half of the sixth century. This chronology stands on many pottery fragments from the settlement cultural layer where three amphora types predominate, Antonova etc. (1971) Type V, Romanchuk, Sazanov, Sedikova (1995) Class 1, and Riley (1979) LRA 1. The dekanoummion of Emperor Justinian I (527–565) minted in 563–564 in one of Byzantine mints determines the chronology. The preliminary identification of the site is the fort on the northern defensive line of Cherson as the Byzantine outpost in the South-Western Crimea. If this attribution is correct, it suggests another frontier fort in the land of Dory known from Byzantine chronicles.

Keywords

• сиваг-кермен, юго-западный крым, византия, страна дори, крепость, фортификация, византийская археология