Alexander V. Bonin^a,#

^a Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow, Russia

^#E-mail: bonin_a80@mail.ru

Keywords: Bosporus, Taman, Eastern Crimea, Uzunlar rampart, rural area, settlements, fortifications, estates, container pottery, chronology.

The article summarizes the results of the thesis research on the topic “Rural settlements of the Bosporus of the 1st century BC – middle 2nd century AD: issues of chronology”. The paper presents refined typology of the chora settlements and correlates the stages of development of these settlement sites with the events in the Bosporus during the specified period known from records. The study made it possible to draw the following conclusions. Very little is known about the first half of the 1st century BC. It is possible that while the Bosporus was a part of the Pontic Kingdom changes occurred in the chora, which have not yet been confirmed archaeologically. Since the middle of the 1st century BC, fortified houses and estates became common, thus reflecting the transformations during the reign of Asander. This period ended around the turn of Common Era with the destruction of all known fortified houses and estates in the European Bosporus and a part of similar settlements in the Asian Bosporus as a result of hostilities in the reign of Polemon I (14–8 BC). The next stage in the development of the chora took place during Aspurgus’s reign (14–37 AD). Not later than the end of the first quarter of the 1st century AD, “batareyka” fortresses appeared in the Asian Bosporus and restructuring took place in a number of settlements of the European Bosporus. A notable event in the history of the Bosporus was the so-called Bosporan-Roman war of 45–49 AD. Destruction of the middle of the 1st century AD has been recorded in rural settlements of the Asian Bosporus, fortified houses of the southeastern part of the Bosporus kingdom ceased to exist. The following period, which was reflected in the settlements of the chora of the Bosporus, was the first half of the 2nd century AD. At that time, “batareyka” fortresses of the Asian Bosporus and a number of other fortifications were destroyed. Since the middle of the same century, the appearance of many rural settlements also changed. Fortified (European Bosporus) or unfortified (Asian Bosporus) settlements with dense housing development arranged in quarters became the dominant type.

DOI: 10.31857/S0869606322030035