The Northern Black Sea in Antiquity: Networks, Connectivity, and Cultural Interactions

Description

The Northern Black Sea region, despite its distance from the centers of classical civilizations, played an integral role in the socioeconomic life of the ancient Greco-Roman world. The chapters in this book, written by experts on the region, explore topics such as the trade, religion, political culture, art and architecture, and the local non-Greek populations, from the foundation of the first Greek colonies on the North Pontic shores at the end of the seventh and sixth century BCE through the first centuries of the Roman imperial period. This volume closely examines relevant categories of archaeological material, including amphorae, architectural remains, funerary and dedicatory monuments, inscriptions, and burial complexes. Geographically, it encompasses the coastal territories of modern Russia and Ukraine. The Northern Black Sea in Antiquity embraces an inclusive and comparative approach while discussing new archaeological evidence, offering fresh insights into familiar questions, and presenting original interpretations of well-known artifacts.

Valeriya Kozlovskaya was a lecturer at Mount Ida College, Massachusetts. She has many years of experience working in the Black Sea region and has published articles on the archaeology of the Northern Black Sea.

'The book, published in excellent graphical terms, adds to both the work that advances knowledge about the Black Sea and the studies on cultural interactions, contacts and exchanges that characterized ancient worlds. It would have gained clarity if connectivity, whose methodological advantages are perceptible in each of the articles, had been better defined in relation to the specific material of the region. Nevertheless, it is important to welcome the publication of this volume, which updates a constantly renewed documentation, illustrating the dynamism of the Pontic studies.' Madalina Dana, Bryn Mawr Classical Review