Archeological Research Campaign of 2005–06 in the Bay of Sudak/Crimea

With the generous support of Dumbarton Oaks, the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was able to realize, from June to September 2005, a second maritime archaeological research campaign in the bay of Sudak/Crimea, in continuation of the excavations which took place in the summer of 2004. In the course of the campaign of 2005 a seabed-area of over 28.000 m² was investigated. About 1300 archaeological artifacts—mainly of lead—were discovered, which testify to the various activities in the port of Sudak.

The discovered artifacts include:

1. Devices for the control of transportation of goods: Byzantine lead seals, different kinds of rings used for the sealing and packing of goods.
2. Commercial equipment (coins, coin and trade weights, scales) and articles of trade like lead bars.
3. Objects used in recreational and religious activities at the docks: fishing gear, jewelry, dress attachments like buckles and buttons, objects of devotion.
4. Nautical equipment: rigging rings, fragments of ship hull coating.

These finds indicate that commercial and nautical activities in the port of Sudak can be traced from the 3^rd to the 17^th century, i.e. from the time of the Bosporus Kingdom to the Ottoman Porte period.

Besides excavations in the bay, remains of defensive structures on the mainland which were intended to protect the docks were investigated. With the help of radiocarbon-analysis these structures, which were until now believed to have been erected in the 7^th or 8^th century, could be dated to a period between the 3^rd and the early 5^th century. The 'Coastal Fortification' in the center of the port district could be dated to a time between 223 and 429, the tower on the south-west side of the Fortress Hill to a time between 235 and 440. This corresponds with the early dating of the port complex which, according to underwater finds—Bosporian coins and early Byzantine weights,—was already in use between the 3^rd and the 6^th century.

Most of the finds discovered in the bay belong to the Byzantine period (6^th–12^th century). Only a small number of finds originates from the time of the Italian domination over Sudak (13^th–15^th century). This seems remarkable, especially since from the 2^nd half of the 13^th to the early 14^th century Sudak became the largest port of the Black Sea. The sparsity of finds from the Italian period might be due to the fact that the character of commerce in the port of Sudak changed with the Italian occupation, with slave trade coming to occupy a central role.

Among the finds excavated in the bay of Sudak in 2005 were 63 Byzantine lead seals of the 7^th–12^th centuries, 3 trade seals and 2 seal blanks. Like the seal-finds of the archaeological campaign of 2004, the seals were discovered throughout the bay, particularly in places where remains of the docks are situated. Here, they were located in interrelated complexes with other objects. This indicates that their sedimentation resulted immediately from activities on the ships and piers.

The results of the archaeological campaign of 2005/2006 strongly confirm the conclusions we have drawn from our excavations during the first campaign in 2004, namely the earlier hypothesis that seal-finds in Sudak bay originate from a supposed municipal or custom-house archive is effectively invalidated by the overall results of both campaigns.

In a wider perspective the results of the underwater excavations at Sudak challenge previous interpretations of the phenomenon of maritime (Constantinople, Sudak, Cherson), fluvial or on-land (Drogičin, Novgorod, Preslav) accumulations of seals in the middle ages. A strong case can be made that sigillographic complexes are mostly related to the handling of commercial cargo and do not, as has been generally assumed until now, originate from the remains of archives.