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MAIASP. 2021. No. 13
Yu.K. Guguev (Rostov-on-Don, Russia), S.A. Naumenko (Rostov-on-Don, Russia)
The basement of the 2nd c. CE in City square area of Tanais
(EXCAVATION UNIT XIX)
DOI: 10.53737/2713-2021.2021.17.22.014
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Pages: 535—577
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In 1996, a basement of a building
was excavated by the German research team of the Lower Don Archaeological
Expedition in the city square area of Tanais. The
basement feature (No. 3, so-called Eastern basement) was revealed to make a
part of the building No. 4 within the excavation unit XIX. The basement is
referred to among complexes resulted from ravage caused by the late Sarmatians as they defeated
the city around the mid-2nd century. In the filling of the
basement, a large number of finds have been discovered: amphorae, red slip
ware, fine tableware, wheelmade gray clay ware,
handmade pottery, a lamp, two arrowheads, two keys, a lock, an astragalus, a bone object, iron nails, and five coins
(from Aspurgus to Rhoemetalces).
Among the amphorae, many varieties have been represented, such as (a) red
clay ones of the Zeest 84 Type, (b) orange clay
ones of the Tanais Homesteads 20-21 Type, (c) brown
clay one produced by unidentified centre, with high handles and flat bottom, (d)
narrow-necked ones from Heraclea made of light-coloured clay (Shelov’s Type C), and (e) others. Red slip ware is
represented by various forms of the Pontic sigillata A and by two fragments of the Pergamene sigillata. In
general, the dating of amphorae as well as that of red slip ware falls within
the interval from the late 1st to the mid-2nd century
CE. Among non-antique
pottery, gray clay vessels made by the Alans make
up a noticeable amount of six out of fourteen items, while in the dump layers
formed as a result of the cleaning of the city after the defeat is finished,
fragments of Maeotian ceramics absolutely prevailed
as compared with Alan ones. On the surface of one of the Maeotian
vessels, a relief tamga-like Sarmatian
sign is imprinted, the other one represents a ‘table’ with three short legs,
similar to those used in everyday life by the nomads like the Sarmatians and the early Alans
of the Caucasus. It is these facts which may testify a “barbaric” origin of
those who owned the basement.
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Key words: Tanais,
basement, Middle and Late Sarmatian cultures, Alans and Meotians, amphorae,
red-lacquer ceramics, non-antique grey-clay pottery, tamga-shaped
symbols.
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