Abstract
The article provides a detailed description as well as the classifi cation of stone projectiles found during the archeological excavations at the Belinskoye site in 1996–2017. The classifi cation is the typology of stone projectiles proposed by D.V. Zhuravlev and G.A. Camelina. In accordance with the typology, all stone projectiles discovered at the site of ancient settlement are divided into four types, depending on their weight. The fi rst type is the largest number of projectiles (29 pieces). They are of low weight, and are therefore made for throwing with the help of sling and its derivatives. Projectiles related to types 2, 3, 4 have a greater weight and size and were intended for throwing with the help of stone-throwing machines. The total dating of projectiles varies from the fi rst quarter of the second to the beginning of the fi fth century AD. The data presented in the article make it possible to draw a number of conclusions on the history of the Belinskoye fortress and the Bosporan Kingdom. Being a frontier fortress in the European Bosporan defense system, the Belinskoye settlement was invaded by the Goths in the 3rd century AD. Stone projectiles of considerable size allow us to conclude that during the assault propelling machines were used, but there is no way to determine whether they were used by attacking or defending troops.
Keywords
Archaeology, stone projectiles, throwing machines, sling, Bosporus, Belinskoye settlement, the Goths.
Akopyan, A.M. 1986: Kamennyye yadra iz Artashata [Stone projectiles from Artashat]. In: G.A. Koshelenko (ed.), Problemy antichnoy kul’tury [Problems of ancient culture]. Moscow, 232–237.
Atavin, A.G. 1993: Krasnolakovaya keramika IV–VI vv. n.e. iz Fanagorii [Red-lacquered ceramics of the 4th – 6th centuries AD from Phanagoria]. Bosporskiy sbornik [Bosporus collection] 2, 149–171.
Blavatskiy, V.D. 1951: Kamennoye yadro iz Fanagorii [Stone projectile from Phanagoria]. Kratkiye soobshcheniya Instituta istorii material’noy kul’tury [Brief communications of the Institute of the History of Material Culture] XXXIX, 135–136.
Blavatskiy, V.D. 1947: Osada i oborona v antichnom Prichernomor’ye [Siege and defense in the ancient Black Sea Coast]. Kratkiye soobshcheniya Instituta istorii material’noy kul’tury [Brief communications of the Institute of the History of Material Culture] XVI, 89–93.
Blavatskiy, V.D. 1952: Pervyy god raboty Sindskoy ekspeditsii [The fi rst year of the Sindh expedition]. Kratkiye soobshcheniya Instituta istorii material’noy kul’tury [Brief communications of the Institute of the History of Material Culture] XLVIII, 71–80.
Blavatskiy, V.D. 1951: Kharaks [Charax]. In: Materialy po arkheologii Severnogo Prichernomor`ya v antichnuyu epokhu [Materials on the archeology of the Northern Black Sea in ancient times]. Vol. I. (Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR [Materials and Investigations on the Archaeology of the USSR] 19), 250–291.
Boldyrev, A.V., Borovskiy, Ya.I. 1948: Tekhnika voyennogo dela [Military technology]. In: I.I. Tolstoy (ed.), Ellinisticheskaya tekhnika [Hellenistic technique]. Moscow–Leningrad, 269–319.
Vinokurov, N.I. 2008: Voyna na blizhnem Bosporskom pogranich’ye i yeye posledstviya (po materialam raskopok gorodishcha I nekropolya Artezian v Krymskom Priazov’ye) [The war in the near Bosporan frontier and its consequences (on the materials of the excavation of the Artesian ancient settlement and necropolis in the Crimean Azov Region)]. Bosporskie issledovaniya [Bosporos Studies] XIX, 103–112.
Gaydukevich, V.F. 1958: Ilurat. Itogi arkheologicheskikh issledovaniy 1948–1953 gg. [Ilurut. Results of archaeological research 1948–1953]. In: Bosporan cities. Vol. II. Works of the Bosporan Mission in 1946–1953. (Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR) [Materials and Investigations on the Archaeology of the USSR] 85), 9–148.
Zhuravlev, D.V., Kamelina, G.A. 2012 Detali rimskogo voinskogo snaryazheniya iz Kharaksa v sobranii GIM [Details of the Roman military equipment from Kharaks in the collection of the State Historical Museum]. Yevraziya v skifo-sarmatskoye vremya. Pamyati I.I. Gushchinoy. Trudy GIM [Eurasia in the Scythian-Sarmatian time. In memory of I.I. Guschina. (Transactions of the State Historical Museum 191), 63–69.
Zhuravlev, D.V., Kamelina, G.A. 2015: Kamennyye yadra iz Kharaksa [Stone Projectiles from the Roman Fortress of Kharaks]. In: V.D. Zhuravlev (ed.), S Mitridata duyet veter. Bospor I Prichernomor’ye v antichnosti. K 70-letiyu V.P. Tolstikova [Wind blows down the mount Mithridates. The Bosporus and the Black Sea in the Antiquity. Studies Presented to V.P. Tolstikov on the occasion of his 70th Birthday]. Moscow, 189–210.
Kopylov, V.P., Kovalenko, A.N. 2016: Kamennyye yadra iz Yelizavetinskogo gorodishcha [Stone projectiles from the Elizavetinskoe settlement]. Vestnik drevney istorii [Journal of Ancient History] 4, 973–981.
Orlov, K.K. 1983: Izucheniye Kharaksa [Studies of Charax]. Arkheologicheskiye otkrytiya [Archaeological discoveries] 331–332.
Sokolskiy, N.I. 1962: Kamennyye yadra iz Pantikapeya [Stone projectiles from Panticapaeum]. In: Pantikapey [Panticapaeum]. (Materialy i issledovaniya po arkheologii SSSR) [Materials and Investigations on the Archaeology of the USSR] 103, 241–249.
Sokolskiy, N.I. 1958: Raskopki v Kepakh v 1957 godu [1957 Excavations at Kepoi]. Kratkiye soobshcheniya Instituta istorii material’noy kul’tury [Brief communications of the Institute of the History of Material Culture] 78, 53–63.
Sokolskiy, N.I. 1961: Raboty v Kepakh v 1958 godu [1958 Excavations at Kepoi in 1958]. Kratkie soobshcheniya Instituta arkheologii [Brief Communications of the Institute of Archaeology] 83, 66–72.