The sacred sphere of life of the Berezansky settlement has repeatedly attracted the attention of researchers ^.1 Attempts were also repeatedly made to identify places of worship among the construction complexes discovered during many years of large-scale excavations in Berezan. At various times, some areas of the Berezansky settlement could already claim the role of such sites. The palm tree in terms of convincing the hypothesis rightfully belongs to the so-called "Skadovsky Necropolis". Step platforms and the remains of apse buildings were discovered here, which later V. V. Lapin defined as altars and temples, respectively, and dated to the 5th century BC. ² This version of the localization of the Berezansky temenos with certain reservations was included in generalizing works on ancient archeology and architecture of the Northern Black Sea region ^.3

Other similar assumptions were periodically made. Back in the last century, a plan of the island published by A. S. Uvarov showed a certain object, called for some reason "the temple of Achilles" ⁴, but apparently related more to the Turkish fortifications of the XVIII century. ⁵ M. F. Boltenko in one of his articles mentioned "the site where the cult of Aphrodite Euplea went", which functioned in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. ⁶ At the same time, it referred to graffiti finds, but, unfortunately, did not specify which ones specifically. According to L. V. Kopeikina, one of the ground - based archaic complexes discovered by her at the North-West excavation site had a cult function7 . On the territory of the Main excavation site, V. V. Lapin investigated a building with an apse of the beginning of the 5th century BC, interpreted by him as a temple ⁸ .

The name of the study is an indicator of interest in the issue under consideration. It should be noted that the attention of scientists was focused on the interpretation of previously discovered objects and complexes in various parts of the settlement and necropolis as sacred. In recent years, the Berezan expedition of the IA NASU has been working in the direction of a practical search for temenos, and this work was crowned with success.

^{Yaylenko V. P.} 1 Grecheskaya kolonizatsiya VII-1II vv. B.C. Po dannym epigraficheskikh istochnikov [Greek colonization of the 7th-1st centuries BC According to epigraphic sources]. Moscow, 1982. pp. 287-297; Rusyaeva A. S. Terracotas from the Berezansk settlement (from excavations by V. V. Lapin). Kiev, 1984. pp. 129-147; ona. Religion and cults of ancient Olbia. Kiev, 1992.

^{Lapin V. V.} 2 Greek colonization of the Northern Black Sea Region (a critical essay on domestic colonization theories). Kiev, 1966. p. 121.

^{Rusyaeva A. S.} 3 Necropolis // Archeology of the Ukrainian SSR. Vol. 2. Kiev, 1986. P. 304; Kryzhitsky S. D. Architecture of the ancient states of the Northern Black Sea region. Kiev, 1993. p. 39. Fig. 13.

^{Uvarov A. S.} 4 Issledovaniya o drevnostey Yuzhnoy Rossii i beregov Chernogo morya [4 Studies on the antiquities of Southern Russia and the Black Sea coast]. SPb., 1851.pp. 141-142.

^{Solovyov S.L.} 5 Ancient Berezan. The Architecture, History and Culture of the First Greek Colony in the Northern Black Sea. Leiden - Boston - Koln, 1999. P. 19.

^{Болтенко М.Ф.} 6 До питания про час виникнення та назву давнiшоi йонiйськоi oceлi над Бористеном (з Березаньско-Ольбiйських студiй) // Вiсник Одеськоi комicii краезнавства при Украiнськiй АН. Ч. 4-5, секцiя археологiчна. Odessa, 1930. p. 39.

^{Kopeikina L. V.} 7 Features of the development of the settlement on Berezan Island in the Archaic period (based on the results of excavations at the north - western site) / / SA. 1981. N 1. pp. 202-203.

^Lapin. 8 Greek colonization... p. 119.

page 154

Fig. 1. Location of the Temenos site on the plan of Berezan Island in 1990.

page 155

This article presents the main results of a four-year field research cycle ⁹ .

Temenos was identified in the center of the island (Fig. 1) near the western border of settlement ¹⁰, approximately one hundred meters from the coastal cliff (section "T"). Prior to the excavation, the daytime surface was a fairly flat area with a slight slope to the north. The peculiarity of this section of the settlement territory is that during the construction of military facilities in the early XX century, certain leveling works were apparently carried out here. From the north, the excavation is approached by a preserved section of road laid in 1910 from the pier in the north-eastern bay of the island to casemates ¹¹ . There is evidence that during the operation of an experimental artillery range on the island, a stone crusher ¹² was located here . Traces of its work are recorded by the presence of a layer of heavily crushed crushed stone up to 15-20 cm thick, which was found almost everywhere on the excavation site. It should be noted, however, that violations of the cultural layer were generally insignificant - only the upper part of the humus was cut off during leveling. In the immediate vicinity of the excavation there is also a memorial building built in 1917 on the burial site of participants of the Sevastopol uprising of 1905, and a bomb crater from the Great Patriotic War.

Almost the beginning of excavations of the area where temenos was later revealed was laid by exploration work in 1984, when a series of pits (5x5 m) was laid in the south - western part of the settlement in order to study the stratigraphy and nature of the development. In one of them, a monolithic limestone altar of a round shape was identified, similar to the altars located on the territory of the second temenos of Olbia ¹³ . In 1996-1999, excavations were carried out here with a wide area of ¹⁴, and to date, the study of the cult complex, which we interpreted as the sanctuary of Aphrodite, has almost been completed. The specified complex included the walls of the fence of the sacred site, the altar and the temple (Figs. 2-4). The remaining stone construction remains lie at a depth of only about 40 cm from the level of the modern day surface.

The masonry walls of the fence belong to two construction periods, separated by a small period of time, which is not difficult to determine due to the relatively wide dating of mass material. The first construction period is represented by masonry N 224, 225, which are respectively the south-eastern and south-western walls of the sacred site. The north-western wall of the sanctuary of the first construction period corresponds, apparently, to masonry N 236 and 237, between which there is a gap of 1.30 m in length.

In favor of the fact that these masonry are segments of one wall, indicates

⁹ For preliminary publications, see Nazarov V. V. Temenos of the Berezansky settlement // Матерiали II Миколаiвськоi обл. краезнавчьоi конф. "Iсторiя. Etnography. Culture. Новi дослiдження". Т. I. Археологiя i етнографiя. Mikolaiv, 1997, pp. 27-29; on. Раскопки на Березани в 1998 г. // Археологiчнi вiдкриття в Украiнi 1997-1998 pp. Kiiv, 1998, p. 114; Nazarov V. V., Oreshko V. M. Discovery of the temenos of the Berezansky settlement // Археологiчнi вiдкриття в Украiнi 1997-1998 pp. Киiв, 1998. С. 37-38; Назаров В.В. Святилище Афродiти в Борисфенi // Украiна Грецiя: iсторична спадщина i перспективи cпiвробiтництва. Сб. наукових праць мiжнародноi науково-практичноi конф. I. Mapiyполь, 1999. С. 137-138.

¹⁰ The location of the border here is determined quite roughly - based on the absence of a strong cultural layer in the section of the coastal cliff (despite the fact that archaeological material in the form of ceramic fragments is still present there).

¹¹ A section of the same road passing through the territory of the "G" section is shown on the plan published by M. F. Boltenko (Rozkopki na ostrovi Berezani v 1946 r. / / Archeologichni pamyatki URSR for 1945-1946 pp. Kiev, 1949, p. 32).

¹² The stone crusher is mentioned in an act drawn up in April 1917 based on the results of a search for the graves of the leaders of the uprising on the cruiser Ochakov.

^{Mazarati S. N.} 13 Issledovaniya na o. Berezan ' [13 Studies on Berezan Island]. Archeologicheskie otkrytiya 1984 goda [Archaeological discoveries of 1984], Moscow, 1986, p. 265.

¹⁴ The current excavation area is 575 ^m2 .

page 156

Figure 2. Plan of the sanctuary of Aphrodite

their mutual arrangement in the planning grid of temenos and structural similarity. On the other hand, we note a certain discrepancy between the routes of their passage. In particular, masonry N 237 is slightly shifted to the west relative to masonry N 236. The latter goes into the northern side of the excavation. Thus, the area of the early sanctuary is currently not fully revealed - its north-eastern wall has not yet been revealed.

All of these masonry structures (apparently plinths of mud walls) are double-faced, three - layer orthostatic structures. The fence between the orthostatically installed limestone slabs is clay; this structure was overlaid on top with bed-laid slabs. A completely similar construction of masonry is typical for the site "North-West", where in the 70-90th years excavations were carried out by the State Archaeological Service. Hermitage Museum ¹⁵ .

The second construction period is characterized by a significant reduction in the area of the sanctuary, which has now been fully disclosed. At the same time, the south-western wall of the fence (masonry No. 225) continued to function, while the south-eastern wall (masonry No. 224) was largely dismantled (two sections of it adjacent to the corners of the fence were preserved). Instead, a new wall was built (masonry N 222), parallel to the previous one, practically adjacent to its remains from the east, but located stratigraphically higher. The north-east wall (masonry N 223) adjoins it at right angles. At a distance of 11.10 m from the corner of the fence, there is a gap in the masonry with a length of 1.15 m. Perhaps there was a passage leading to the courtyard of the temple complex. North-west wall of the fence of the second construction period

^{Kopeikina street.} 15 Features of settlement development ... pp. 198-199. Fig. 6; Solov'ev S. L. Residential houses of the Berezansky settlement of the Late Archaic period // Tr. Gos. The Hermitage Museum. Culture and art of the ancient world. 1997. VII. P. 17.

page 157

3. The Sanctuary of Aphrodite. General view

Figure 4. Stone altar and corner of the sanctuary enclosure

page 158

(masonry N 226) runs perpendicular from masonry N 225, forming the south-western corner of the fence. In turn, its north-western corner is formed by the intersection of masonry routes N 223 and 226. The latter continues further to the north-east of the corner of the fence. This circumstance shows that the noted reorganization of the sacred site was more complex than a simple reduction of its territory.

For the plinths of the walls of the second construction period, a different masonry system was noted-two-faced, one-three-layer, and bedded.

The temple was a rectangular structure oriented along the north-west - south-east axis: its dimensions: 5.72 X 4.25 m. Structurally, it consisted of pronaos and naos. Judging by the layout, we can assume the ant solution of this building. At the same time, we note that no traces of the columns were found. The walls have been preserved to a height of about 20-60 cm. The lower rows of masonry walls of the temple on the side of the external facades are made of well-treated limestone blocks; the upper rows and internal facades of the walls are made of rubble stone according to an irregular system, but also quite neatly.

The described stone construction remains are located on a cultural layer, the thickness of which is up to 50 cm to the level of the ancient day surface (the so-called vole). The construction remains corresponding to this layer are represented by ditches of ground structures that preceded the creation of temenos here.

The subsequent history of this section of the settlement is as follows. Shortly after the middle of the sixth century B.C., the ground structures almost simultaneously cease to exist and are filled in, and in their place a sacred site, apparently of a quadrangular shape, is broken up. Its territory is surrounded by a mud-stone wall around the perimeter. Most likely, the masonry blocks N 224 and 225 described above belong to this external fence, although at this stage of research it cannot be ruled out that they covered only a certain part of the temenos territory (in this case, the sanctuary of Aphrodite). At the same time, a temple is being built here and an altar is being installed. After some time, temenos is undergoing redevelopment, during which the area of the sanctuary in question is significantly reduced (or separated from the adjacent territory by an internal fence). In this form, the complex exists at least until the fifth century BC. Any construction activity in subsequent periods is not recorded here, which, in addition to stratigraphic observations, is confirmed by the analysis of material finds.

The archaeological material obtained during the excavations generally dates back to the VI-beginning of the V century BC. The ceramic complex here is typical of the Late Archaic layers of Berezan. In particular, according to the profile details found, they are distinguished: Clazomenian, Milesian, Lesbos, Chios of various types, the so-called "glass-bottom", "proto-Phasian" and some other types of archaic amphorae. Late ceramic containers are represented by literally single fragments of amphorae (Phasos, Heraclea). The same can be said about the amphora material of the Roman period.

Among the dining room and kitchen utensils, painted Eastern Greek ceramics predominate, stucco-relatively few. As for the so-called gray clay tableware, which is approximately equal in quantity to Eastern Greek, the presence of such dishes in the metropolis of Borysthenes - Miletus casts doubt on the previously unshakable thesis about its local origin.

There are not many metal objects in general, but among them there are very interesting specimens. Note, in particular, a fragment of the bronze neck hryvnia, ending with a stylized image of a ram's head. A typologically similar object was found in Nikonia and is kept in the Odessa Archaeological Museum ¹⁶ .

^{Kokorzhitskaya T. N.} 16 Fragmentof the bronze hryvnia from Nikonia / / Monuments of ancient history of the North-Western Black Sea region. Kiev, 1985. pp. 50-51.

page 159

Figure 5. Terracotta figurines of the so-called Seated Goddesses

Also noteworthy are: a flat double-edged knife, typical of the Belozersk culture of the Bronze Age, a triangular-shaped kettlebell (?) with the image of an arrow coin, an openwork bell with triangular holes. Arrowhead and dolphin coins and arrowheads were also found. Iron products are small and fragmentary.

A significant category of finds consists of so-called votive circles, which are processed fragments of the walls of ceramic vessels to varying degrees. According to the generally accepted opinion, such items were votives. A large number of such finds come from excavations of the archaic sanctuary of Achilles located relatively close to Berezan on the Beikush Cape. Many of them are inscribed with dedications to Achilles ¹⁷ . All available ostraks from the Berezansky temenos are anepigraphic. Votive circles are found outside temenos (in other excavated areas of the settlement), but in much smaller numbers.

A representative category of finds on temenos consists of fragments of terracotta figurines (Figs. 5-7). Whole instances were also found. The following types of terracotta are distinguished: 1) The so-called Seated Goddess is a female figure sitting on a throne (Fig. 5); 2) a figurative vessel in the form of a standing female figure with a bird in her hand; 3) a figurative vessel in the form of a kneeling naked male figure (Fig. 6) ¹⁸; 4) a fragment-face - of a female protoma (?); 5) a protoma-mask - of a female face (nakhodka, 1996); 6) female half-figure (nakhodka, 1996); 7)" fat demon"; 8) figurative vessel in the form of a dove; 9) turtle; 10) fragment (head) of a horse figurine.

^{Rusyaeva A. S.} 17 Excavations of the Beikush settlement near Olbia]. Archeologicheskie issledovaniya na Ukrainy v 1967 g. Inform. Report of Issue II. Kiev, 1968. p. 148; Buiskikh S. B. Nekotorye itogi issledovaniya Beikushskogo mys [Some results of the study of the Beikush Cape]. Tez. mezhdunar.konf. Nikolaev. 1997. pp. 19-20.

¹⁸ Is currently the only known specimen in the Northern Black Sea region. Аналогии см. Boardman J., Gaies J. Excavation at Tocra 1963-1965; the Archaic Deposits, I. L. 1966. P. 154. PI. 99, 45-47.

page 160

Figure 6. Terracotta statue of a kneeling male figure

It should be noted that the terracotta finds were distributed fairly evenly over the exposed territory of the sanctuary, both in the horizontal and vertical planes of the corresponding cultural layer. At the same time, they have not yet been found on the adjacent territory outside the fence and stratigraphically below the building remains associated with the temenos.

Of particular interest are the in situ finds inside the temple, at floor level in the naos room. 7). The former are represented by the type of "sitting goddess" (one whole statuette and one fragment) and a fragment of protoma (a female face), the latter by two types: "standing goddess with a dove" and a kneeling man. Directly at the back wall of the room were found: Ionian striped kilik with a broken leg, a fragment of the pallet of a black-oak vase. The wreckage of a crushed Corinthian Scythian was found on the floor. This set of terracotta types and shaped vessels is almost identical to that found in the excavations of the sanctuary of Aphrodite on the Zeitin Tepe hill in Miletus; differences in some cases occur at the level of variants within the same types ^.19 Accordingly, we can assume that the Berezansky temple is also dedicated to this deity.

In turn, the interpretation of the Zeytin Tepe archaeological complex as a sanctuary of Aphrodite seems to be very reliable, since it is based on epigraphic data. Among the materials from the excavations are graffiti and dipinti with the name of Aphrodite, as well as corresponding lapidary inscriptions ²⁰ . On the temenos of Berezan, no such structures have been found yet. There are, however, fragments of vessels with the letters A (alpha) and AE (alpha-epsilon) inscribed on them.

In addition, we also point out the almost identical composition of animal bones found during the excavations of the compared monuments ^.21

^{Senff R., Heinz М., Pigur М.} 19 Die Grabung auf dem Zeytintepe V.v. Graeve. Milet 1991. Vorbericht liber die Arbeiten des Jahres 1991 // Istanbuler Mitteilungen. 1992. 42. S. 106-108, Taf. XIV, 1-2; XV, 18.

²⁰ Ibid. Taf. 19, 6; Heinz М., Senff R. Die Grabung auf dem Zeytintepe V. v. Graeve. Milet 1992-1993. Vorbericht liber die Grabungsarbeiten und Gelandeerkundungen, die Denkmalerrestaurierung und die Naturwissenschaftlichen Begleitprogramme der Miletgrabung in den Jahren 1992 und 1993 // Archaologischer Anzeiger 1995. S. 224. Abb. 26; Herrmann P. Inschriften // Ibid. S. 282-288.

^{Peters J., Driesch A.} 21 Siedlungsabfall versus Opferreste: Essgewohnheiten im Archaischen Milet V. v. Graeve. Milet 1991. S. 119-124. Osteological material from excavations in Berezan in 1997 was processed by O. P. Zhuravlev.

page 161

7. Group of terracotta in situ on the temple floor

The main argument in support of our proposed interpretation of the open sanctuary is the mentioned similarity of terracotta sets. Let us emphasize that we are talking not so much about the terracotas themselves, but about their combination in relation to a specific cult complex. In addition to those found in situ on the floor of the temple, some other types of terracotta, samples of which were found during the excavations of the Berezansky Temenos, are usually associated with the cult of Aphrodite. These are images of a pigeon and a turtle ²² . By the way, a lead pigeon figurine is present among the materials of the Zeitin Tepe excavation ²³ .

Of course, it is impossible not to note the circumstance that prevents an unambiguous perception of the presented picture. Of these, only one type of terracotta is considered to be the image of Aphrodite (a figurative vessel in the form of a "standing goddess with a bird"). Statuettes of the " seated goddess "(and among the terracotas found so far during the excavations of temenos, they prevail) we have recently decided to identify with the image of Demeter ²⁴ . In turn, in the publication of the materials of the Zeitin Tepe excavation, a similar statuette is considered as an image of Aphrodite ²⁵ .

In general, we must admit that there are no reliable criteria for identifying statuettes of "sitting goddesses" with certain characters of the Greek pantheon. Only the following statements are indisputable: 1) the statuettes of the "seated goddess" were popular in various areas of the Hellenic (more precisely, Ionian) world and were produced in many centers; 2) the production and existence of the type of terracotta under consideration is limited to one century (mid - VI-mid-V centuries BC); 3) there are several definite and significant figures of the "sitting goddess". Apparently, there are more synchronous variants of the image-

^Rusyaeva. 22 Religion... p. 100.

^{Heinz, Senff.} 23 Op. cit. S. 224. Abb. 25.

²⁴ See Rusyaeva A. S. Agricultural cults in Olbia of the Pre-Soviet period. Kiev, 1979. pp. 37-39; ona. Antique terracotas of the North-Western Black Sea region (VI-I centuries BC). Kiev, 1982. pp. 29-31. Fig. 5.

^{Senff. Heinz, Pigur.} 25 Op. cit. S. 107.

page 162

4) figurines were used as offerings to shrines and temples, as well as in domestic cults and funerary rituals; 5) as votives, figurines of "sitting goddesses" were dedicated to the shrines of various deities, along with other types of terracotta.

Apparently, those researchers are right who, connecting terracotta depicting a sitting woman with a popular statuesque type, talk about the use of identical figures in the cults of various female deities due to the weak dismemberment of the functions of the latter. All of this can be rightly attributed to the archaic protomas26 .

Thus, the chosen approach to the problem of interpretation of an open cult complex seems to be fundamentally correct, and there is nothing improbable in the fact that a cult was held on the temenos of Borysphenides, which is very widespread in its metropolis - Miletus.

The veneration of Aphrodite by the Northern Black Sea Hellenes already in archaic times is attested by numerous facts and has been repeatedly noted in the works of specialists ^.27 Among the places of her cult is known and Borysthenes. Earlier excavations in Berezan have already found relevant dedicatory graffiti and fragments of terracotta figurines and figurative vessels representing the type of "standing goddess" with a dove in her hand. These finds come from excavations of the necropolis and residential areas of Borysthenes. This circumstance, as well as the fact that dedicatory inscriptions were placed "both on the bottoms and on the open parts of vessels", testified, according to V. P. Yaylenko, "not about the temple, but about the domestic cult of this goddess" ²⁸. At present, the character of the cult of Aphrodite is more clearly defined here, and this point of view can be revised. Thus, the finds of dedications to Aphrodite and terracotta figurines depicting her outside sanctuary ²⁹ can be regarded as an indicator of the existence of a domestic cult of Aphrodite along with the temple one, and not as an alternative to the latter.

So far, the materials of our excavations do not allow us to conclude under what specific epiclesis Aphrodite was worshipped here. The multiplicity of epicleses of this deity is widely known. Materials obtained earlier indicate the existence of the cult of Aphrodite of Syria and Apatura in Borysthenes ^.30 Above, we have already referred to the graffiti finds, where the name of the goddess is given without epiclesis.

It is also of considerable interest to determine the place of the described cult complex in the urban planning scheme of the late Archaic Borysthenes. At the same time, first of all, we note that the very fact of its discovery is another weighty argument in favor of the assumption made by L. V. Kopeikina about the urban status of the Berezansky settlement ^.31 Attention is drawn to the similarity of the situation at the sites "T" and "North-West", where L. V. Kopeikina conducted excavations in the 70s. In particular, as already mentioned, this applies to: the general stratigraphic column, the depth of occurrence of stone building remains, and the nature of the masonry structure of the first construction period. On the other hand, if the construction remains on the "North-West" section are oriented along the north - south axis ³² , then on the "T" section they are oriented along the north - south axis 32.

^{See Denisova V. I.} 26 Bosporus coroplastics (Based on the materials of Tiritaka, Mirmekiya, Ilurat and rural estate). L., 1981. pp. 23-24.

²⁷ See Rusyaev. Religion ... pp. 100-106.

^Yaylenko. 28 Greek colonization, pp. 288-289.

²⁹ The number of such dedications significantly exceeds the published figure and is not much inferior to the number of dedications to Achilles (courtesy of Yu. G. Vinogradov).

^{Tolstoy I. I.} 30 Grecheskie graffiti drevnykh gorodov Severnogo Prichernomorya [Greek graffiti of ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea Region]. Izv. Inst. of the Institute of Material Culture of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1953, No. 25, 78; Yaylenko V. P. Graffiti Levki, Berezani i Olvia. VDI, 1980, No. 2, p. 72; Rusyaeva. Religion ... pp. 103, 104.

^{Kopeikina street.} 31 Features of settlement development... p. 208.

³² Ibid., p. 194. Fig. 2.

page 163

north-west - south-east axes. The same orientation is also typical for the multi-time construction remains on the "R-1b" ³³ site located 50 m to the northwest of the sanctuary .

The assumption about the existence of regular planning areas in Berezan was suggested by L. V. Kopeikina and further developed in ^the works of S. L. Solovyov34 . The latter also proposed a graphic reconstruction of the layout scheme of the late Archaic settlement ³⁵, which, after the results of excavations described in this article, needs some adjustment. In particular, the revealed rotation of the planning grid of the sanctuary and adjacent buildings to the northeast suggests a radial rather than rectangular layout of the central part of the city.

As a working hypothesis at this stage of research, we can make the following assumptions.

The area of the city of Borysthenes currently being investigated by the Berezanskaya expedition is central to the urban planning aspect of understanding this definition. Geographically, it most likely represents the outlying elevated part of the settlement, dominating the surrounding residential development, which tended to the low-lying northern and north-eastern parts of the peninsula, most likely - to the harbor.

The Aphrodite sanctuary complex that we discovered appears around the middle of the sixth century BC or somewhat later, as part of a unified construction program marked for the "North-West" section by L. V. Kopeikina ³⁶ . Prior to the creation of the sanctuary, this area was part of an earthen development zone, which here, however, was probably not particularly intensive compared to other areas of the settlement territory.

The discovery of an archaic temple complex in Berezan can be considered as an additional confirmation of the repeatedly expressed assumption that at that time this settlement was the center of the polis. The latter was most likely organized much earlier and had already reached a certain level of economic development by the time of these large-scale construction works.

It remains to focus on the prospects for further excavations of the Berezansky temenos. Even now it can be noted that the sacred site of the first construction period is not fully revealed, apparently. Accordingly, it is not definitively clear whether the sanctuary of Aphrodite was a local one or was, along with the shrines of other deities, part of the central urban temenos, arranged according to the type known in Olbia. The nature of the surrounding development is still unclear. Finally, the south-western border of the city's territory remains undisclosed. This determines the objectives of the expedition for the coming years. I think that working in this direction will bring us closer to understanding many important aspects of the life of ancient Borysthenes.

^{Nazarov V.V.} 33 Archaologische Untersuchungen auf Berezan // Zur graeco-skythischen Kunst. Archaologisches Kolloquium. Munster, 24-26 Nov. 1995. Munster, 1997. S. 15. Abb. 3.

^{Kopeikina street.} 34 Osobennosti razvitiya poseleniya... P. 207; Solovyov S. Stroitel'nye kompleksy arkhaicheskoi Berezani (Analiz arkhitekturno-stroitelnykh traditsii): Avtoref. kand. dis. ... 1989. P. 10; Solovyov. Op. cit. P. 77-79.

^Solovyov. 35 Op. cit. P. 78. Fig. 58.

^{Kopeikina street.} 36 Features of settlement development... p. 197.

page 164

THE SANCTUARY OF APHRODITE IN BEREZAN

V.V. Nazarov

The paper publishes the main results of the research in a cult complex on the peninsula of Berezan. The research was conducted by an expedition of the Institute of Archaeology (Ukraine) in 1996-1999. The excavations unearthed a temenos surrounded by a wall with an altar and a temple inside. Typologically, the set of terracottas discovered here is analogical to the set from Aphrodite's sanctuary in Miletus (Zeytin-tepe), This analogy gives the author grounds for identifying this complex as Aphrodite's sanctuary. The temenos came into existence here in mid- or late 6th. с. ВС as a result of large-scale construction which changed the city's appearance. Before that the territory was occupied by dug-out houses, stores etc., similar to those found in other districts of the settlement.

Permanent link to this publication: