Museums and Society: The exhibition dedicated to the decade anniversary of the Bosporus archaeological expedition of the State Historical Museum in Moscow

The “Hellenes between the Pontus Euxīnus and Maeotis” exhibition opens in the State Historical Museum (Moscow) on June 8, 2016.

The Bosphorus archaeological expedition of the State Historical Museum is the largest in Russia international scientific project, in which a comprehensive study of the ancient monuments of the time on the Taman peninsula is going on. The exhibition is dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Bosporus expedition.

Over the years, the archaeologists of Historical Museum are working together with the Eurasian Department of the German Archaeological Institute (Berlin) on several monuments. A unique system of defensive ditches of different periods and the remains of earthwork was opened and carefully examined on Golubitskaya 2 settlement. At the moment, this is the earliest ancient fortification structure, discovered in northern Black Sea area, dating from the second half of the VI century B.C.

The second monument, where the work Bosporus archaeological expedition of the Historical Museum carried out its works is the settlement Strelka 2. The excavation, conducted by the expedition, discovered a unique for the Taman Peninsula system of stone fortification on the crest of the earthwork - the bedding for a wall and a tower, built of large adzed limestone rocks. This is the first stone fortification on the entire Asian Bosporus, clearly dating from the V-IV century B.C.

At the exhibition, visitors will see the painted vessels from the epoch of beginning of the Greek colonization, terracotta statuettes, household items of the first colonists, metalworking tools, and unique Greek bone skates for skating on ice. There is a separate showcase with the amphorae from the warehouse, discovered in August 2015, dating from the second half of the V century B.C. All the exhibits at the show are publically presented for the first time.

"Asian Bosporus and the Kuban Area in pre-Roman Times" International Round Table takes place on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition, alloving archaeologists from the largest scientific centers of Russia, Germany and France to discuss the main issues of the Greek colonization of the region and new findings in recent years.