Oleg Petrauskas, Mariana Avramenko, The settlement Komariv – glass-production centre in the European Barbaricum: a cultural and natural environment

Abstract

The settlement of III-IV centuries AD near the village Komariv is located at the middle course of the Dniester River. In the 1950 - 70s, its excavations were conducted by M. Yu. Smyshko and Yu. L. Shchapova. 40 objects of the late Ro¬man times were excavated (glass-melting kiln, building on a stone foundation, pottery kiln, pits and terrestrial dwellings, hearths). From 2012 comprehensive research of the settlement is carried out by a joint Ukrainian-German archae-ological expedition (heads of the project O. Petrauskas and H.-Y. Karlsen). Project implementation provided new information about the monument. The area of the settlement is about 35 ha, of which 12 hectares have been geophysi¬cal survey. It is allowed to create a map of archaeological anomalies. 22 objects were excavated during five seasons: pottery kilns, dwellings, household pits and buildings, pit related to the production of glass, etc. In 2012 it was discovered a cemetery and six inhumations were investigated. The chronological frameworks of the existence of Komariv manufactory cover phases from C1 to D1. The settlement has a two-part planigraphy and consists from residential and industrial parts. The production included several crafts: glass, pottery, jewelry production, metallurgy of ferrous metals, burning charcoal and lime, and others.