Tyragetia (Dec 2020)
The amphorae from the Northwest Black Sea water area
Abstract
The article publishes materials researched in 2018 in two regional museums of Odessa region – in Ovidiopol and Tatarbunar. Also, the publication is supplemented by finds collected in 2019. Collections consist of the findings of archaeologically intact amphorae and large portions of them found in the northwestern Black Sea by amateur fishermen and submariners. The descriptions of the collections are presented separately because of their heterogeneity in terms of morphological features and chronological affiliation, although both collections contain vessels of ancient times and the Byzantine period. It should be noted that among the studied transport amphorae there are quite rare types of Roman containers. In addition to introducing new materials to the scientific circulation, the paper reviews the history of the underwater archeology of the region and analyzes existing publications of amphorae originating from the bottom of the area of the same region. An analysis of the materials of new and old sites of amphorae finds revealed that, apart from single finds, they are the remains of ships («Zmiinyi Patroclus» and “Kinburn Spit”), areas of several shipwrecks (the «amphorae slope» И. Сапожников, А. Синельников, Амфоры Северо-Западной акватории Черного моря 205 of Zmiinyi Island, Adzhalyk and Tuzla estuaries) or of a single shipwreck (near the Dniester Estuary, Kinburn Fortress and Tendra Island). Another type is anchorages (the «amphora field» of Zmiinyi Island and possibly near Berezan Island and in the Odessa Gulf). It should be noted that just past Zmiiniy, adjacent to the water area and further north, one of the main routes of supply of imported products in amphorae packaging came from both the Southern Pontic cities and the Mediterranean. That is why we hope that the article presented will add new facts to the study of ancient maritime import trade, its starting points and structure, as well as demonstrate the massive and rare types of amphorae used in the Northwest Black Sea.
