ANTIQUE GYLEA IN THE LOWER DNIEPER

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to highlight the dynamics of changes in the geographical situation in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, in particular on the Kinburn peninsula in ancient times, and the development of the region against the background of the Greek colonization of the Lower Bug region. The scientific novelty lies in the comparison of archaeological and ancient Greek literary sources with paleogeographic data, which made it possible to restore the natural conditions in the area of the Bug-Dnieper estuary and significantly supplement the idea of the formation of Greek-barbarian relations in the region. The natural conditions in the area of the Bug-Dneper estuary have repeatedly changed over the past millennia, which was associated with fluctuations in the Black Sea level. Significant changes also took place after the 17^th—18^th centuries. In ancient times, the Kinburn Peninsula was known in ancient literature, but it had a completely different configuration of the coastline and was covered with dense deciduous forest. At the end of the 7^th century BC on the banks of one of the branches of the Dnieper delta, a settlement arose, which, by its morphological characteristics, was defined as a temporary seasonal marketplace, where artisans worked in the warm season — people from the Dnieper region, the Balkans, the North Caucasus and even the distant eastern regions. The fading of life in the marketplace was associated with the founding of Olbia, where artisans who came from afar could stay for a long period, regardless of seasonal changes in the weather and renting premises for setting up temporary workshops there. From Olbia, these craftsmen could extend their activities to the Chora settlements, as evidenced by the worn-out clay molds on some of them, and the burial of a barbarian caster in the Maritsino burial ground near Olbia. When the lease expired, the craftsmen left, and the premises were cleaned and all traces of craft activities were dumped into an abandoned basement room in the Upper Town, excavated in the 50s. last century or into pits similar to the one that was excavated in 1982.