ITALIAN SIGILLATA IN THE NORTHERN PONTIC AREA

Denis Zhuravlev

For the long period scholars from the former USSR have thought that there was no Italian pottery import in the Northern Pontic Area, except Olbia. My researches in the museums of Russia and Ukraine during the last years disprove this thesis. All the conclusions made below are of the preliminary character, for the most part of materials from archaeological excavations of Greek and Roman sites is not published yet.

Italian sigillata appeared in the North Pontic Area in the 20-s of the 1st century A.D., but the main part of the finds known to me dates to the second quarter of the century. Obviously there were no direct trade connections between Italy and the Black Sea Littoral, though more and more Italian products are being distinguished in the region from year to year: metal and glass ware, amphora etc.
Italian fine ware, according to rarity of its' findings, penetrated most likely through transit centers or occasionally, as a small part of ship cargo, and it certainly did not play any trade role. The most finds of Italian pottery come from big cities - Olbia, Chersonesos, Panticapaeum (Knipowitsch, 1929, Kropotkin, 1970, Kadeev, Sorochan, 1989, Zhuravlev, 2000, 2002). To my point of view, there are no grounds to connect Italian and other Western sigillata finds with Roman legionaries basing in Chersonesos, as some scholars do (Belov, 1967). Certain vessels got to the territory of Asian part of the Bosporan Kingdom (for example, to Gorgippia) and only a few did to Barbarians living nearby (to the Late Skythians, for example).

The most widespread forms are Conspectus Formarum 1, 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 22, 23, 34 with stamps ATEI, GELLI, GN.ATEI, GNIVS, CMVRI, P.CORNE, SER and others. Among centers of producing that are distinguished well are Arezzo and Pisa. I would like to note, that Italian vessels almost always come from contexts (both from city layers and graves) dating to the period about 25 years later the time of producing vessels themselves. Two examples are the most characteristic - the grave 3 of the Barbarian necropolis Belbek IV, where a cup Conspectus Formarum 22/23 with the stamp ATEI in planta pedis is found with inventory of the beginning of the third quarter of the 1st century A.D. In Gorgippia a plate Conspectus Formarum 6 with the stamp CELLI was found with ESB Hayes forms 60, 70 and with Pontic sigillata Hayes form X. All this probably can be explained by comparative rarity and long using of Italian ceramics among population of the North Pontic Area. Furthest investigations and publications of materials from the far corner of the Greek and Roman World would be able to reconstruct the exact picture of Italian sigillata spreading.

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