Ceramics and Finds

ICA-NPTC excavations in the city and chora have resulted in the recovery of enormous quantities of pottery.   They have also uncovered thousands of special finds of every sort, from bronze reliquary crosses to lithic cores to Greek coins.   During the course of excavation, the three-dimensional spatial coordinates of the findspots of objects are recorded, and pottery is collected by numbered context (also know as "stratigraphic unit" or "locus").   The material is washed and dried, if ceramic, or cleaned and stored, if metal or other material.   It is then studied by specialists to answer questions of date, manufacture, and function, in preparation for a final publication in which it can be discussed in its wider use context.

The specialists who carry out this work are staff members at the NPTC, staff members at ICA, and scholars from many other nations and institutions.   As their work is published, the extraordinarily wealthy material record at Chersonesos will enrich the international academic community.   Current work on ceramics includes studies of Greek and Roman transport amphorae and coarseware, Hellenistic fineware, Pontic red slip ware, and Late Byzantine glazed pottery.   The numerous special finds from various projects will be included in the publications of those projects, with contributions by Ukrainian numismatists, Russian glass specialists, Western experts in ceramics and minor objects, and NPTC scholars.