Pages:  87-121 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp25687121

Excavations at the Eklizi-Burun cult site uncovered four gold coins dating to the Early Roman period: a Bosporan stater of Mithridates III (VIII) from 41/2 AD, three staters from Chersonesos issued between 94/5—96 and 100/01—102 AD (two specimens), and a possible ‘barbarian’ brass imitation of a Chersonesean stater. This article seeks to elucidate the heuristic value of these finds for understanding cultural and historical processes in Taurica. The research draws several key conclusions and hypotheses. Gold coins circulating in Crimea from the mid-1st century BC to the mid-2nd century AD were primarily instruments of political engagement by their issuers. Their presence in the territory associated with the Crimean ‘barbarians’ indicates interactions between the elites of urban civilizations and those of non-urban (‘barbarian’) communities. Notable groupings of such coins originate from sanctuaries at Gurzufskoe Sedlo and Eklizi-Burun, which were founded by the 'Taurians' or 'Scytho-Taurians.' During much of the Early Roman period, leaders of these groups largely maintained political independence. The sources from whom sanctuary adherents obtained gold included Bosporan rulers (up to the mid-1st century AD), Romans who governed the Bosporan Kingdom during the 60s—70s AD, and Chersonesus’s civil community around the transition from the 1st to the 2nd century AD. By the close of the first decade of the 2nd century AD, the autonomy of the ‘barbarian’ elites in Taurica had diminished significantly, leading to the cessation of gold coin inflows.

Keywords: South Crimea, historical region of Taurica, early Roman period, gold coins, Roman Empire, Bosporan Kingdom, polis of Chersonesus, barbarian sanctuaries

Information about author:

Alexandr Lysenko (Simferopol, Crimea). Institute of Archaeology of Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Academician Vernadsky Ave., 2, Simferopol, 295007, Crimea
E-mail: [email protected]