Ancient ceramics found at the construction site of the Crimean bridge

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Russian archaeologists are conducting research on the territory along which the railway will pass - the approach to the bridge across the Kerch Strait from the Crimea.

Burial mounds (burial mounds), as well as the remains of ancient fortifications and settlements of different cultures, from the Bronze Age to the 19th century, are being studied. Only after the scientists complete the work on the next section, it is handed over to the builders.

On April 6, the information center "Crimean Bridge" reported another valuable find: in ancient burials, samples of applied art of the 4th century BC were found. These are fragments of antique ceramics, skillfully painted by the masters of Attica.

On the walls of the hydria, a vessel for water, there is a scene of the battle between the Amazons and the Greeks, and the fish dish is decorated with drawings of marine life. It is assumed that these dishes belonged to representatives of the Bosporan nobility, they were exhibited at feasts, and later became part of the funeral rite.

“We have received samples of ceramics of a sufficiently high artistic level. This is the work of real masters who were able to depict ornaments and figured images of the heroes of ancient mythology on vessels of complex shapes.

The finds will allow us to study more deeply the ancient Greek art, life, traditions, trade relations of the population of the eastern coast of Crimea,”said Sergei Ilyashenko, head of the expedition, associate professor of the Department of Archeology and Ancient History of the Southern Federal University.

Artifacts painted by ancient masters have been recovered from dozens of fragments. It took the restorers three months to piece together and glue the fragments found by the archaeologists.

“The ceramics lay underground for more than two thousand years, therefore, first of all, its surface was freed from layers of natural pollution, and the shards were strengthened with special compounds.

It is a great success that the hydria entered the restoration with practically no loss. That is, almost all fragments of the body, legs, throat and handles were found, which were connected together.

It seemed surprising when, when cleaning the outer surface, we saw the preserved fragments of applied white paint on the figures of the painting. This is despite the fact that soil layers have been eating away at the surface of the vase for centuries,”said Elena Minina, an artist-restorer of the highest category at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin.

Currently, the artifacts are being deposited in the funds of the Kerch Museum. In general, museum complexes on the two banks of the Kerch Strait will receive about 100,000 finds made within the framework of the Crimean Bridge project and approaches to it.

Over the three years since the start of the project, the total area of archaeological excavations has exceeded 56 hectares. The bulk of research was carried out on sections of roads and railways - approaches to the bridge from Taman and Crimea, where dozens of objects of cultural heritage were identified.

“Painted ceramics of the 4th century BC refers to one of the burial structures of the Yuz-Oba burial mound group. She is known all over the world.

The finds made in the Yuz-Oba mounds adorn the halls of the largest museums in the world: the British Museum, Louvre, Hermitage, Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkin. Thanks to the project of the Crimean bridge and the approaches to it, such artifacts are now in the Kerch Museum.

Soon they will be presented in our exhibition halls,”said Natalya Bykovskaya, Deputy General Director of the East Crimean Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve.