Pages: 241-258

In the last decade, in S. V. Polin’s papers devoted to Scythian barrows of the Northern Black Sea littoral, a number of criticisms on the chronological system of the stamping of the ceramic tare of the Heraclea Pontica I have been proposed. They refer primarily to the stamps of the last two stages of stamping (V Magistrate’s Chronological Group and Late Manufacturer’s Group), which according to S. V. Polin did not exist beyond the third quarter of the 4th c. BC. This re-dating, he believes, is a strong argument, confirming his hypothesis, according to which the overwhelming majority of the barrows of higher Scythian aristocracy were built in the middle — the third quarter of the 4th c. BC, and by the end of that century Scythian population in the steppe had practically disappeared.
However, the work done by S. V. Polin to change the previously proposed chronological system of the Heraclea stamping can not be estimated positively. A detailed analysis of the material invoked by S. V. Polin, demonstrates the fallacy of his conclusions and confirms once again the validity of the earlier proposed grouping of the later Heraclea stamps and feasibility of the established absolute dates for the last Magistrate and Later Manufacturer’s groups.

Keywords: Heraclea Pontica, amphorae tare, ceramic stamps, chronological groups, magistrates, manufacturers.

Information about author:

Vladimir Kac (Saratov, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage of N. G. Chernyshevsky Saratov State University. Astrakhanskaya St., 83, Saratov, 410012, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]