Pages: 181-198

The article provides an overview of the history of the study of a small group of archaeological materials from the excavations of Chersonesos, i. e. Early Byzantine brickstamps with indiction dates. The analysis of stamps allowed to eliminate the wide range of dates (5th — 7th centuries AD) and confirmed that plínthoi were made in the third decade of 5th c. AD in the suburb of Constantinople. A number of historical reconstructions of the economic, political and social life of the city are proposed on this basis for the period of Late Antiquity. This small but notable group of artifacts could probably be associated with the arrival of bishop Capito with 500 soldiers in Chersonesos that is known from Lives of the Saints as a final step of Christianization of the city. The provenance of the finds of such plinthoi exclusively from fish-salting complexes may be explained by the growing significance of Chersonesos as a leading supplier of salted fish and fish sauces to Constantinople of the epoch of Theodosius II.

Keywords: Chersonesos, late antiquity, plínthoi, brickstamps with indiction, fish-salting, Christianization

Information about author:

Roman Smirnov (Sevastopol, Crimea). The State Historical-Archaeological Museum Reserve «Tauric Chersonesos». Drevnyaya St., 1, Sevastopol, 299045, Crimea
E-mail: [email protected]