Terracotta figurines from the South-Western section of the Kytaia necropolis
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2023-1-42-60
Abstract
This article is based upon terracotta figurines that have been discovered during the excavations of the necropolis of Kytaia, one of the smaller Bosphoran towns, which had existed on the South-Eastern littoral of the contemporary Kerch peninsula, from the 6th – to the 5th centuries BC, till c. 525–550 AD. In the South-Western section of the site, located in a zone of intense coastal abrasion, burials of the 4th century BC, and of the extended period 350–500 AD, accompanied with ritual complexes and traces of funeral meals, were discovered. In addition to numerous other finds, of offerings associated with rites customary in Late Antiquity, 14 fragmented terracotta figurines were discovered. Compared to examples from the earlier Hellenistic period these from the late antique, which are contemporaneous with the most recent ritual practices, appear to be of smaller quantity. The preference which was given to female rather than to male images, as well as to upper and lower parts of terracotta figurines, is perhaps not accidental but awaits explanation. Interpretation of the revealed patterns depends upon the ethnic and cultural affiliation of the Kytaia inhabitants during the Great Migration Period and needs clarification.
Keywords
Bosphoran Kingdom,
town of Kytaia,
Late Antiquity,
necropolis,
burial and commemorative sites,
ritual offerings,
terracotta figurines
Supporting agencies: The study was supported by the Artemis Charitable Foundation for the Promotion of the Protection and Research of Archeological Monuments of the Northern Black Sea and Sea of Azov Region in 2018–2021.
About the Authors
Z. V. Khanutina
State Museum of the History of Religion (Ministry of Culture)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Zoya V. Khanutina
bld. 14, Pochtamtskaya St., Saint Petersburg, 190000
V. A. Khrshanovskii
Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Vladimir A. Khrshanovskii, Cand. of Sci. (Philosophy)
bld. 19, Dm. Uljanova St., 117036, Moscow
References
1. Ermolin, A.L. and Yurochkin, V.J. (2002), “Repeated studies of the crypt of the Dzhurg-Oba burial ground in the Bosporus” in Tserkovnaya arkheologiya Yuzhnoi Rusi [Church archeology of South Rus’], Krymskii filial IA NAN Ukrainy, Simferopol’, Ukraine, pp. 85–96.
2. Kasparov, A.K. and Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2019), “Faunal remains from the southwestern section of the Kytaia necropolis (based on the results of excavations in 2010–2018)] in Bosporskie chteniya XVIII: Bospor Kimmeriiskii i varvarskii mir v period antichnosti i Srednevekov’ya: Osnovnye itogi i perspektivy issledovanii: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii [18th Bosporan readings: Cimmerian Bosporus and the World of Barbariens in Antiquity and the Middl Ages. Trade: Routes – Goods – Relations, Proceedings of the International Scientific conference], IP Kifnidi Georgii Ivanovich, Simferopol’, Kerch’, Russia, pp. 272–283.
3. Khanutina, Z.V. and Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2019), “Terracotta in funeral and memorial rituals (based on materials from the excavations of the necropolises of the Ilurat plateau)”, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 1, pp. 46–58.
4. Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2013), “Elite crypts of the 4th – 3th centuries BC in the South- Western section of the necropolis of Kytaia” in Kul’turnyi sloi: Sbornik nauchnykh statei, vyp. 2 [Cultural layer: collection of scientific articles, vol. 2], Izdatel’stvo Nizhegorodskogo universiteta, Nizhnii Novgorod, Russia, pp. 182–200.
5. Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2016), “Ground graves in the South-Western section of the Kytaia necropolis (based on materials from 1992–2013 excavations)”, in Kul’turnyi sloi. Sbornik nauchnykh statei, vyp. 4 [Cultural layer: collection of scientific articles, vol. 4], Izdatel’stvo Nizhegorodskogo universiteta, Nizhnii Novgorod, Russia, pp. 108–141.
6. Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2017), “Between Goths and Huns”, in Bosporskie issledovanija, vyp. 35 [Bosporos studies, vol. 35], Kerchenskaya gorodskaya tipografiya, Kerch’, Russia, pp. 208–228.
7. Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2017), “ ‘Second-hand’ artifacts in the funeral, memorial and sacral complexes of the ancient Bosporus”, Novoe Proshloe/The New Past, no. 4, pp. 74–90.
8. Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2017), “Trizny on the ground necropolises of the Bosporus (based on materials from the necropolises of the Ilurat plateau and the Kytaia plain)”, Tavricheskie studii. Seriya: Istoricheskie nauki, no. 12, pp. 158–166.
9. Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2018), “Necropolises of the Kytaia plain” in Bosporskii fenomen: obshchee i osobennoe v istoriko-kul’turnom prostranstve antichnogo mira: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii, chast’ 1 [The Bosporan phenomenon: general and peculiar features of historical and cultural space in the world of classical Antiquity. Proceedings of the International Conference, part 1], Publishing and Printing Center of Saint-Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design, Saint Petersburg, Russia, pp. 249–258.
10. Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2020), “Late Antique ritual pits in the southwestern section of the Kytaia necropolis”, in Drevnosti Bospora [Antiquities of the Bosporus], vol. 25, OOO “Amirit”, Moscow, Russia, pp. 407–425.
11. Molev, E.A. (2010), Bosporskii gorod Kitezh [Bosporan city of Kytaia], ADEF-Ukraina, Simferopol’, Kerch’, Ukraine.
12. Pavlichenko, N.A. (2013), “Finding a Roman hallmark in Kytaia” in Fiditiya. Pamyati Yuriya Viktorovicha Andreeva [Συσσιτια. In memory of Yuri Viktorovich Andreev], Dmitrii Bulanin, Saint Petersburg, Russia, pp. 108–110.
13. Pavlichenko, N.A. and Khrshanovskii, V.A. (2020), “Ceramic hallmarks from the late Antique necropolis of Kytaia] in Drevnosti Bospora [Antiquities of the Bosporus], vol. 25, OOO “Amirit”, Moscow, Russia, pp. 289–306.
14. Rusyaeva, A.S. (1982), Antichnye terrakoty Severo-Zapadnogo Prichernomor’ya (VI–I vv. do n. e.) [Antique terracotta of the North-Western Black Sea region (6–1 centuries, BC)], Naukova dumka, Kiev, Ukraine.
15. Sazanov, A.V. (1985), “The origin of one group of Bosporan ritual terracotta”, KSIA (Brief Communications of the Institute of Archaeology), no. 182, pp. 18–23.
Review
For citations:
Khanutina Z.V., Khrshanovskii V.A. Terracotta figurines from the South-Western section of the Kytaia necropolis. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2023;(1):42-60. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2023-1-42-60
Views:
112
Email this article 