The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT

archaeoloGIcal expeDItIons archaeoloGIcal expeDItIons
wooden half-beams were found. The section of the east wall
of the trench shows that the pad is covered with a layer
containing the same organic inclusions as the pad surface.
At the depth of 1.7 m from the present surface of the
mound, this layer is covered with clay and sand coating
carrying fragments of moulded Early Meot pottery.
A Bronze Age catacomb burial was found with a destroyed
vault and the entrance well with two steps on the south
(explored in 1897) in the part of Veselovsky’s trench adjacent
to the east wall section of the present trench. The catacomb
was found to contain fragments of broken covering
slabs, human bones and ceramic fragments.
An unexplored Bronze Age pit burial was found to the
south of the catacomb.
The early stage of advanced exploratory works on the Kostromskoi
Mound confirmed some data quoted in N. Veselovsky’s
report; however, no reliable evidence of a tentshaped
sub-mound structure has been found.
goldern horde expediTion
Head of expedition: Mark Kramarovsky
Exploratory works continued on the defence line of mediaeval
Solkhat. Three pits were made on the ridge of the
south-east branch of Maly Argamysh Mountain. Walls of
an open-type defence tower measuring 10 × 10 m were
found in Pit XXXIII; remains of a forge (?) including
a furnace chamber and a mouth with a pre-furnace
area were unearthed in one area of the excavation site.
Pit XXXIV contained the foundation of the defence wall.
The defence wall line includes a three-part trench consisting
of the central recess filled with crushed stone and
lime mortar, and light clay substructures adjacent to the
recess on the north and south which were intended for
constructing the footing course of the defence wall jacket.
The total width of the trench for the bedding and packing
of the defence wall was about 2.5 m. The wall consisted of
two jackets made from stones fixed together with mortar.
The space between the jackets was filled with rubble and
the same type of mortar. The profiles of the sides and edges
of the pit support the findings of the previous season.
In the south-west corner of the site, a burial of a woman
and child without any inventory was found at the depth
of 0.37 m. The burial was covered with reused facing slabs
of the defence wall.
In Pit XXXV the infill of the central part of the trench for
the defence wall was clearly localized. At the bottom on
the east and west parts of the trench medium and large
stones fixed together with clay mortar were preserved in
situ, which apparently formed part of the wall foundation
on the site.
The finds included fragments of metal objects of unknown
use and nails; an arrowhead; fragments of bone objects
and pottery fragments; a four-part caltrop; an anthropomorphic
figurine made of a metal (brass?) plate – ongon,
and a fragment of a tomb.
A total of 23 coins were found, two of which were worn
out, one had been minted in Turkey, one in Moldavia
(stamp of Alexander the Kind (1400–1432?)), one in Russia
(1730–1740). The other coins were copper Jochid puls
(one with a Genoese portal stamp). A Russian grosh, minted
during Anna Ioannovna’s reign, allows to define the
period when the walls of mediaeval Solkhat’s defence belt
were dismantled and their stones were reused.
myrmeKeyon expediTion
Head of expedition: Alexander Butiagin
Works continued on the site of the ancient city of Myrmekeyon
located on the territory of Kerch. Excavations
were performed on Ash Pit 2 as well as to the north of
it, in the north-west corner of the adjacent Site И (I).
Poorly preserved walls of buildings dating back to the
first centuries A.D. were found. On the main site, the
ash pit was explored to the depth of 0.8 m. Apart from
the areas completely destroyed by later excavations, the
occupation layer had a typical ash pit stratigraphy, with
Terracotta figurine. 3rd – 2nd century B.C.
alternating layers of grey and brown ash loam and multiple
fragments of mussels, ash, baked soil, coals and small
stones. The ash pit layers contained abundant ceramic
material, including over a hundred fragments of branded
amphorae from Sinop, Heraclea, Rhodes, Cnidus and
other cities, terracotta fragments, copper coins and fragments
of ceramic vessels with graffiti. One special find
was a remarkably well-preserved terracotta figurine of
a standing woman. For the first time, a seriously damaged
gold bead was found in the ash pit. This area of the
ash pit was bounded by stone and adobe walls separating
it from the residential structures. A major part of the ash
pit was disturbed by wartime groundwork. Excavations of
the shelter and driveway yielded a considerable amount
of wartime material including fourteen cannon shells.
The shelter preserved the frame of a car damaged by
an explosion as well as scattered human bones, possibly
coming from the same body.
nymphaeum expediTion
Head of expedition: Olga Sokolova
Exploratory works continued on the Bosporan town of
Nymphaeum (Kerch, Crimean AR, Ukraine), on the south
slope of the Nymphaeum Plateau, where field research has
been conducted on the sacred ground complex for many
years.
On the West Excavation Pit, removal of the overlying level
continued to the south of the propylaea explored in 1996–
2000 in order to identify the building system in the area.
No building remains were found. The layer comprised material
mostly dating from the 4th – 3rd century B.C., with
inclusions from an earlier (6th – 5th century B.C.) and
later (2nd century B.C.) periods.
In the past season it was decided to extend the exploratory
site further west after a step-like structure was uncovered
in 2009 partly located outside the excavation pit.
A 200 sq. m extension (8 squares sized 5.0 × 5.0 m) was
made along the west edge of the excavation pit. A 0.5 and
2.1 m thick layer was removed, saturated with Roman and
Hellenistic material. Eleven different-size household pits
were unearthed in this area.
On the South-West Pit, excavations continued to the west
of the defence tower. On two 50 sq. m squares a fragment
of the wall and four household pits were discovered.
The finds from the layer and the buildings can be dated
by the 5th B.C. to the 1st – 2nd century A.D.
A topographic survey was conducted on the territory of the
Nymphaeum necropolis on the area with a mound over
what looks like stone funeral vault, judging by the visual inspection
of the illegal survey pit. Excavations on this structure
are planned in the coming season.
Rim of a pithos with an inscription
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