The Materials to the Porthmion Chronology

The Bosporus expedition of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted a small archaeological research in the northwestern sector of Porthmion in 2002–2003. Two exploration trenches were laid on the excavation area. Archaeological assemblages of the trenches contain information on historical chronology of the settlement. The fire-destruction layer recorded in trench 1 marks the period of destabilization of Greek-barbarian relations in the region, probably connected with the activity of nomadic tribes during the early 5th c. BC. The foundations of the residential building identified in trench 2 refer to the 4th c. BC. This period was associated with the relatively calm reign of the Spartokids dynasty in the Bosporus. Traces of active building dating back to the early 2nd c. BC are associated with the period of the so-called Bosporus “cultural revival”, which took place against a background of stabilization in the region after the Sarmatian invasion.