Abstract
The article is a comprehensive study of navigation in the Black Sea region in the second half of the 10th – beginning of the 13th century (the period of the highest activity of Byzantine trade in the region). The main written sources concerning the Byzantine maritime trade with the cities of the Northern Black Sea region are considered. The results of underwater archaeological research in the Northern Black Sea region provide a good picture of the most important trade routes in the region. Shipwrecks mark the routes of maritime trade running along the coast of the Crimea to the Taman Peninsula. The most important transit routes connected Constantinople with Cherson and Tamatarch. The cargo of the sunken ships consisted mainly of fl at-bottomed amphorae-jugs of the ‘Taman’ type and amphorae of the Günsanin types I, II, III, IV and XX. The main product transported by ships was wine, which came from the centers of the Aegean and the Sea of Marmara. The sale of oil from the Aegean is also not excluded. Some cargos sailing along the Crimean coast may have transported amphorae containing oil from the Taman Peninsula. Studies of shipwrecks near the Southern Crimean coast indicate the increasing role of Gurzuf-Partenit and Sugdaia as trading ports in the 10th – 13th centuries. The fi nds of shipwrecks provide evidence of lively maritime contacts in the Northern Black Sea region and active trade with some areas of the Byzantine Empire.
Keywords
Byzantine period, navigation, maritime trade, shipwreck, amphorae, underwater archaeological research, Black Sea region.
Agbunov, M.V. 1987: Antichnaya lotsiya Chernogo morya [Antique sailing route of the Black Sea]. Moscow.
Aibabin, A.I. 2003a: Kherson [Cherson]. In Arkheologiya. Krym. Severo-Vostochnoe Prichernomor’e i Zakavkaz’e v epokhu srednevekov’ia: IV–XIII veka [Archaeology. Crimea. North-Eastern Black Sea region and Transcaucasia in the Middle Ages: 4th–13th centuries]. Moscow, 82–86.
Aibabin, A.I. 2003b: Step’ i Iugo-Zapadnyi Krym [Steppe and Southwest Crimea]. Arkheologiya. Krym. Severo-Vostochnoe Prichernomor’e i Zakavkaz’e v epokhu srednevekov’ia: IV–XIII veka [Archaeology. Crimea. North-Eastern Black Sea region and Transcaucasia in the Middle Ages: 4th–13th centuries]. Moscow, 74–81.
Anagnostakis, I., Papamastorakis, T. 2005: “…and Radishes for Appetizers”. On Banquets, Radishes, and Wine. In D. Papanikola-Bakirtzi (ed.), Food and Cooking in Byzantium. Proceedings of the Symposium “On Food in Byzantium”. Athens, 147–174.
Ballard, R.D. 2007: Archaeological Oceanography. Oceanography 20.4, 62–67.
Baranov, I.A. 1990: Otchet ob arckheoloicheskih raskopkah v Sudakskoy kreposti i na myse Ai-Foka bliz pos. Morskoe v 1990 g. [Report on archaeological excavations at the Sudak fortress and Cape Ai-Foka near the village Morskoe in 1990]. Arkhiv IA AN USSR [Archive of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR]. No. 1990/23.
Bass, G.F., Brill, R.H., Lledó, B., Matthews, Sh.D. 2009: Serçe Limani. Vol. II. The Glass of an Eleventh-Century Shipwreck. Texas.
Bass, G.F., Matthews, Sh.D., Steffy, J.R., van Doorninck, F.H. 2004: Serçe Limani. Vol. I. The Ship and its Anchorage, Crew, and Passengers. Texas.
Bass, G.F., van Doorninck, F.H. 1978: An XIth century shipwreck at Serçe Limani, Turkey. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 7.2, 119–132.
Bass, G.F., van Doorninck, F.H. 1982: Yassi Ada. Vol. I. A Seventh-Century Byzantine Shipwreck. Texas.
Beilis, V.M 1988: Al-Idrisi o portakh chernomorskogo poberezh’ya i svyaziakh mezhdu nimi [Al-Idrisi on the ports of the Black Sea coast and the connections between them]. In Torgovlya i moreplavanie v basseyne Chernogo morya v drevnosti i srednie veka [Trade and navigation in the Black Sea basin in the Antiquity and the Middle Ages]. Rostov-on-Don, 67–76.
Black sea shipwrecks: 2,500 years of sea-faring history revealed deep in the Black Sea, https:// cma.soton.ac.uk/research/black-sea-map/2500-years-sea-faring-history-revealed-deepblack- sea
Blavatskiy, V.D., Koshelenko, G.A. 1963: Otkrytie zatonuvshego mira [Discovery of the sunken world]. Moscow.
Bogdanova, N.M. 1991: Kherson v X–XV vv. Problemy istorii vizantiyskogo goroda. [Cherson in the 10th – 15th centuries. Problems of the history of the Byzantine city]. In S.P. Karpova (ed.), Prichernomor’e v srednie veka [Black Sea region in the Middle Ages], Moscow, 8–172.
Brennan, M.L., Ballard, R.D., Croff Bell, K.L., Piechota, D. 2011: Archaeological oceanography and environmental characterization of shipwrecks in the Black Sea. Geology and Geoarchaeology of the Black Sea Region: Beyond the Flood Hypothesis 477, 179–188.
Bulgakov, V.V. 2000: Vizantiyskie amfory IX–XIV vv.: osnovnye tipy [Byzantine amphoras of the 9th–14th centuries: main types]. In Vostochnoevropeiskiy arkheologicheskiy zhurnal [East-European Archaeological Journal] 4(5), http://archaeology.kiev.ua/journal/040700/ bulgakov.htm
Buxton, B., Ballard, R., Brennan, M., Coleman, D., Croff, K., Roman, C., Davis, D., Piechota, D., Voronov, S. 2008: Byzantium beneath the Black Sea. Poster presented at 2008 Annual Meeting, Archaeological Institute of America, Chicago, Ill., 3–8 Jan. 2008.
Chkhaidze, V.N. 2008: Tamatarkha. Rannesrednevekovyi gorod na Tamanskom poluostrove [Tamatarha. Early medieval town on the Taman Peninsula]. Moscow.
Chotzakogiu, Ch. 2013: Harbors s and sea-routes of the Black Sea according to Greek hagiographical texts. In F. Karagianni (ed.), Medieval Ports in North Aegean and the Black Sea. Links to the maritime Routes of the East Proceedings. International Symposium Thessalonike, 4–6 December 2013. Thessalonike, 94–100.
Dellaporta, A.P. 1999: Byzantine Shipwrecks and Underwater evidence for Byzantine Pottery. In D. Papanikola-Bakirtzi (ed.), Byzantine Glazed Ceramics. The Art of Sgraffi to. Athens, 118–121.
Emanov, A.G. 1982: K voprosu o ranney ital’yanskoy kolonizatsii Kryma [On the issue of the early Italian colonization of Crimea]. Antichnaya drevnost’ i srednie veka [Ancient antiquity and the Middle Ages] 19, 62–68.
Emanov, A.G., Popov, A.I. 1988: Ital’yanskaya torgovlya na Chernom more v XIII–XV vv. [Italian trade on the Black Sea in the XIII–XV centuries] In Torgovlya i moreplavanie v basseyne Chernogo morya v drevnosti i srednie veka [Trade and navigation in the Black Sea basin in antiquity and the Middle Ages]. Rostov-on-Don, 76–87.
Ginkut, N.V., Lebedinskiy, V.V. 2018: “Vorotnichkovye amfory” tipa Günsenin II s zatonuvshego bliz Balaklavy vizantiyskogo korablya [‘Collar amphorae’ type Günsenin II from the Byzantine ship sunk near Balaklava]. In Antichnaya drevnost’ i srednie veka [Ancient antiquity and the Middle Ages] 46, 151–165.
Günsenin, N. 2009b: Ganos wine and circulation in the 11th century. In M.M. Mango (ed.), Byzantine Trade, 4th–12th centuries Ashgate, 145–153.
Günsenin, N. 2009а: ‘City’ Harbours from Antiquity through Medieval Times. In N. Günsenin (ed.), BETWEEN CONTINENTS. Proceedings of the Twelfth Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology Istanbul, 99–105.
Günsenin, N. 2018: La typologie des amphores Günsenin. Une mise au point nouvelle. Anatolia Antiqua XXVI, 89–124.
Hayes, J., 1992: Excavations at Saraçhane in Istanbul. Vol. 2. The Pottery. Princeton.
Jacoby, D. 2017: Byzantine Maritime Trade, 1025–1118. Travaux et mémoires 21, 627–648.
Jones, M.R., 2015: A Middle-Byzantine-Period Cargo Vessel from the Yenikapı Excavations. In P. Magdalino, N. Ergin (eds.), Istanbul and Water: A Preliminary Analysis. Leuven, 91–114.
Kalinina, T.M. 2013: Kherson v arabskoy geografi cheskoy literature [Kherson in Arabic geographical literature] In ‛Pωμαĩος: sbornik statey k 60-letiyu prof. S.B. Sorochana [Pωμαĩος: collection of articles for the 60th anniversary of prof. S.B. Sorochana]. Kharkov, 188–205. (Nartex. Byzantina Ukrainensis, 2).
Kapitan, G. 1984: Ancient anchors - technology and classifi cation. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 13.1, 33–44.
Karagianni, F. (ed.) 2013: Medieval Ports in North Aegean and the Black Sea. Links to the maritime Routes of the East. Proceedings. International Symposium Thessalonike, 4–6 December 2013. Thessolonike.
Karpov, S.P. 1984: Putyami srednevekovykh morekhodov. Chernomorskaya navigatsiya Venetsianskoy respubliki v XIII–XV vv. [The paths of medieval sailors. Black Sea navigation of the Venetian Republic in the 13th–15th centuries]. Moscow.
Kisić, A. 1988: Rezultati podmorskih rekognosciranja i istraˇzivanja na dubrovaˇckom podruˇcju. In Ž. Rapanić (ed.), Results of Underwater Survey and Excavation in the Dubrovnik Region. Izdanja Hrvatskog arheoloˇskog druˇstva 12. Zagreb, 153–168.
Kocabaş, U. 2015: The Yenikapi Byzantine-Era Shipwrecks, Istanbul, Turkey: a preliminary report and inventory of the 27 wrecks studied by Istanbul University. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 44.I, 5-38.
Koutsouflakis, G. 2021: The transportation of amphorae, tableware and foodstuffs. Middle and Late Byzantine period. The evidence from Aegean shipwrecks. In Waksman S.Y. (ed.), Multidisciplinary Approaches to Food and Floodways in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean. Leon, 447–481.
Kralj, V.Z., Beltrame, C., Miholjek, I., Ferri, M. A 2016: Byzantine Shipwreck from Cape Stoba, Mljet, Croatia: an interim report. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 45.1, 42–58.
Lebedinskiy, V.V., Pronina, Yu.A., Tatarkov, D.B., Dvukhsherstnov, V.I. 2019: Vizantiyskoe korablekrushenie u Balaklavy: opyt glubokovodnykh issledovanyy v Chernom more [Byzantine shipwreck at Balaklava: experience of deep-sea research in the Black Sea]. Vestnik Instituta vostokovedeniya RAN [Bulletin of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences] 4, 36–45.
Maiko, V.V. 2014: Vostochnyy Krym vo vtoroy polovine X–XII vv. [Eastern Crimea in the second half of the 10th – 12th centuries]. Kiev.
Miholjek, I., Zmaic, V., Ferri, M. 2017: The Byzantine Shipwreck of Cape Stoba (Mljet, Croatia). In S. Gelichi, C. Negrelli (eds.), Adriatico altomedievale (VI–XI secolo). Scambi, porti, produzioni. Adriatico altomedievale (VI-XI secolo). (Atti del Convegno di Venezia – 19 marzo 2015). Venezia, 227–246. (Stadi e Reserche 4).
Morozova, 1.1., Albertson, J. A. 2012: Byzantine Shipwrecks explored by the Centre for Underwater Archaeology in the Black Sea. In 1000 років візантійської торгівлі (V-XV століття) [Ten Centuries of Byzantine Trade (the 5th to 15th Centuries)]. Кiev, 208–212.
Morozova, Y., Waksman, S.Y., Zelenko, S. 2021: Byzantine amphorae of the 10th–13th centuries from the Novy Svet shipwrecks, Crimea, the Black Sea. Preliminary typology and archaeometric studies. In S.Y. Waksman (ed.), Multidisciplinary Approaches to Food and Floodways in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean. Leon, 429–446.
Nazarov, V.V. 2003: Gidroarkheologicheskaya karta chernomorskoy akvatorii Ukrainy (pamyatniki antichnoy i srednevekovoy epokh) [Hydroarchaeological map of the Black Sea water area of Ukraine (monuments of ancient and medieval eras)]. Kiev.
Necipoğlu, N., 2017: The Byzantine Economy and the Sea: The Maritime Trade of Byzantium, 10th–15th Centuries. In Ch. Buchet (ed.), The Sea in History. Vol. 2. The Medieval World. New York, 436–447.
Parshina, E.A. 1991: Torzhishche v Partenitakh [Market place in Partenit]. In P.P. Tolochko, V.L. Myts, I.A. Baranov (eds.), Vizantiyskaia Tavrika: Sbornik nauchnykh trudov (k XVIII kongressu vizantinistov) [Byzantine Taurica: Collection of scientifi c works (for the XVIII Congress of Byzantinists]. Kiev, 64–100.
Pletneva, S.A. 2003: Fanagoriia. [Phanagoria]. In Arkheologiya. Krym. Severo-Vostochnoe Prichernomor’e i Zakavkaz’e v epokhu srednevekov’ya: IV–XIII veka [Archaeology. Crimea. North-Eastern Black Sea region and Transcaucasia in the Middle Ages: 4th–13th centuries]. Moscow, 179–183.
Pulak, C., Ingram, R., Jones, H. 2015: Eight Byzantine Shipwrecks from the Theodosian Harbour Excavations at Yenikapi in Istanbul, Turkey: an introduction. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 44.1, 39–73.
Romanchuk, A.I, Sazanov, A.V, Sedikova, L.V. 1995: Amfory iz kompleksov vizantiyskogo Khersona [Amphorae from the complexes of Byzantine Cherson]. Yekaterinburg.
Rybakov B.A. 1952: Russkie zemli po karte Idrisi 1154 goda [Russian lands on the map of Idrisi in 1154]. Kratkie soobshcheniya Instituta istorii material’noy kul’tury [Brief Communications of the Institute for the History of Material Culture] 43, 3–44.
Sedikova, L. 2013. Tauric Chersonesos. Medieval city-port. In F. Karagianni (ed.), Medieval Ports in North Aegean and the Black Sea. Links to the maritime Routes of the East. International Symposium Thessalonike, 4–6 December 2013. Proceedings. Thessolonike, 131–138.
Siuziumov, M.Ia. 1969: Morskoy zakon [Sea law]. In M.Ia. Siuziumov (ed.), Antichnaya drevnost’ i srednie veka [Ancient Antiquity and the Middle Ages] 6, 3–54.
Tanabe, S. 1989: Excavation of a Sunken Ship Found off the Syrian Coast: An Interim Report. Kyoto.
Vakhoneev, V., Lebedinskiy, V. 2016: Glubokovodnye srednevekovye korablekrusheniya v akvatorii Kryma [Medieval Deep Sea Shipwrecks in the Waters of the Crimea] Vostok. Afroaziatskie obshchestva: istoriia i sovremennost’ [Oriens. Afro-Asian Societies: Past and Present] 5, 73–82.
van Doorninck, F.H.Jr. 1989: The Cargo Amphoras on the Seventh Century Yassı Ada and the Eleventh Century Serc¸e Limanı Shipwrecks: Two Examples of a Reuse of Byzantine Amphoras as Transport Jars. In V. De´roche and J.-M. Spieser (eds.), Recherches sur la ce´ramique byzantine. BCH 18, 247–253.
van Doorninck, F.H.Jr., 2002: Byzantine shipwrecks. In A.E. Laiou (ed.), The economic history of Byzantium: From the seventh through the fi fteenth century. Washington, 899-905.
Voronov, S.O. 2010: Doslіdzhennya pіdvodno-arheologіchnoї ekspedicії bіlya pіvdennogo uzberezhzhya Krimu. [Investigation of an underwater archeological expedition off the southern coast of Crimea]. Arheologіchnі doslіdzhennya v Ukraїnі 2009 r. [Archaeological research in Ukraine in 2009]. Kiev, 58–60.
Vroom, J. 2016: Byzantine Sea trade in Ceramics: Some Case Studies in the Eastern Mediterranean (ca. seventh–fourteenth centuries). In P. Magdalino, N. Necipoglu (eds.), Trade in Byzantium: Papers from the Third International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium. Istanbul, 157–177.
Waksman, Y., Skartsis, S., Kontogiannis, N.D., Todorova, E.P., Vaxevanis, G. 2016: Investigating the origins of two main types of Middle and Late Byzantine amphorae. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 21, 1111–1121.
Zelenko, S. 2017: The Maritime Trade in the Medieval Black Sea. In Ch. Buchet (ed.), The Sea in History. Vol. 2. The Medieval World. New York, 449–464.
Zelenko, S.M. 1999: Itogi issledovaniy podvodno-arkheologicheskoy ekspeditsii Kievskogo universiteta imeni Tarasa Shevchenko na Chernom more v 1997–99 gg. [Results of the research of the underwater archaeological expedition of the Taras Shevchenko University of Kiev in the Black Sea in 1997–99]. Vita Antiqua 2, 223–234.
Zelenko, S.M. 2001a: Korablekrusheniya IX–XI vv. v Sudakskoy bukhte [Shipwrecks of the 9th–11th centuries in the Sudak Bay]. In Mors’ka torgivlya v Pivnichnomu Prichornomor’ї [Sea of trade in Pivnichny Prychornomor’ї]. Kiev, 82–92.
Zelenko, S.M. 2001b: Podvodnye razvedki na ugo-vostochnom poberezhe Kryma v 1994 godu [Underwater exploration on the southeastern coast of Crimea in 1994] Vostochnoevropeiskyi zhurnal [East European Archaeological Journal] 1(8), http://archaeology.kiev.ua/ journal/010101/zelenko.htm
Zelenko, S.M. 2008: Podvodnaya arkheologuiya Kryma [Underwater archeology of the Crimea]. Kiev.
Zelenko, S.M., Lebedinskiy, V.V., Kuzminov, V.V., Novitskaya, R.S., Tsarenko, S.A., Morozova, I.I., Pronina, Yu.A. 2016: Podvodno-arkheologicheskie issledovaniya v Ugo- Vostochnom Krymu v 2014 g. [Underwater archaeological research in the South-East Crimea in 2014]. Moscow–Sudak.
Zelenko, S.M., Lebedinskiy, V.V., Kuzminov, V.V., Novitskaya, R.S., Tsarenko, S.A., Morozova, I.I., Pronina, Yu.A. 2016: Podvodno-arkheologicheskie issledovaniya v Ugo-Vostochnom Krymu v 2015 g. [Underwater archaeological research in the South-East Crimea in 2015]. Feodosiya.
Zelenko, S.M., Teslenko, I.B., Waksman, S.I. 2012: Neskol’ko grupp polivnoy posudy s korablekrusheniya kontsa XIII v. vblizi Sudaka (Krym) [Several groups of watering utensils from a shipwreck of the late 13th century near Sudak (Crimea)]. In 1000 rokіv vіzantіis’koї torgіvlі (V–XV stolіttia). Kiev, 129–148.