Ancient Berezan The Architecture, History and Culture of the First Greek Colony in the Northern Black Sea

9789004115699

9004115692

Greek colonisation of the Black Sea area is one of the most hotly disputed aspects of Black Sea archaeology, and the date of the first appearance of Greeks in this part of the ancient world is far from clear. The limited evidence gives us little idea of the character of these colonies and their physical appearance. This volume, the fourth in the "Colloquia Pontica series, deals with Berezan, the first Greek colony established in the northern Black Sea, thus also the first of a ring of Greek city-states which linked the Western world with the vast steppe territory of the Scythians. For more than 100 years archaeologists from Russia and the Ukraine have been excavating this extraordinary island site. This is the first synthesis of their work in any language. It presents the history and archaeology of the site from its establishment in the 7th century BC down to the medieval period. It has 118 tables, maps and photographs.