Hollow Ways near Tanais

Two ancient roads have been revealed with the help of remote sensing data near Tanais, ancient Greek city in Southern Russia. These roads belong to the class of hollow ways which are often found in the vicinities of Greek settlements in the Northern Black Sea region. Very alike hollow ways were discovered in space photographs around the Bronze Age settlements in Upper Mesopotamia. It is assumed that the mechanisms for the formation of such roads both in the Northern Black Sea region and in Upper Mesopotamia are similar. The development of hollow ways is mainly associated with certain environmental conditions and a special economic model.