Pages: 353-379 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp253353379

The authors offer an X-ray fluorescence study of copper-based alloys used in imported metal items from the collection of the State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve “Tauric Chersonesos”. These alloys were spread in the Greco-Roman world from the late classical to the Roman periods. In total, the alloy composition of 47 fragments of lamps and utensils from the excavations of Chersonesos was studied. Many of these items are published for the first time. The work presents items from the 4th century BC to the 3rd century AD. Many of them are dated to the 1st—2nd centuries AD, which generally coincides with the picture of the influx of metal utensils and lamps at this time to the markets of the northern Black Sea cities and beyond to their barbarian environment. The obtained data on the elemental composition of the metal used in lamps and utensils confirm the previously drawn conclusions about the alloy recipes used for these items in antiquity, and in some cases, make it possible to clarify their dating.

Keywords: Tauric Chersonesos, antique metalware, antique metal lamps, brass, bronze, X-ray fluorescence analysis

Information about authors:

Valentin Doroshko (Sevastopol, Crimea). Candidate of Historical Sciences. National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos. Drevnyaya St., 1, Sevastopol, 299045, Crimea
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0009-0003-2095-3298

Tatiana Smekalova (Simferopol, Crimea). Doctor of Historical Sciences. V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. Academician Vernadsky Ave., 4, Simferopol, 295007, Crimea; National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”. Academician Kurchatov Sq., 1, Moscow, 123098, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-5378-5372