From the mid-sixth century the first Greek apoikiai matured into poleis with their own strong state and religious institutions, laws and social structure. These city-states began their own craft production. The chorai of Olbia, Bosporus, and Histria were now very extensive (Avram et al. 2004).
The earliest colonies had been small: Panticapaeum occupied some 7.5 ha in the sixth century, its population no more than 2,000-3,000 (Blavatskii 1964: 25), while in the first half of the century Olbia had had an area of about 6 ha, rising to 16.5 ha in the second half (Vinogradov and Kryzickij 1995: 28). Phanagoria was built on a hill; its area was 20-22.5 ha in the second half of the century. For this colony some regulation can be identified: buildings are next to each other along both sides of streets 1.5-3 m wide (Tsetskhladze 2002b). It is the only settlement of the period to show signs of proper planning and a regular layout of streets. In none of these towns is there any evidence of a distinct agora or a temenos until the last quarter of the sixth century. The architecture of sanctuaries was quite primitive and, for example in Olbia, indistinguishable from the domestic. The “sanctuary” of Demeter in Nymphaeum may in fact be a production complex (Tsetskhladze 2003: 136). A small temple of the late archaic period dedicated to Aphrodite has been discovered recently in Berezan (figure 17.4).13
It is true that there was no grand temple architecture in the archaic period but the evidence demonstrates the existence of quite advanced religious practices and ceremonies. Orphism is attested in Olbia (West 1983: 17-20). A bone plaque with a graffito was found in Berezan, dating to the end of the sixth or beginning of the fifth century (Onyshkevych 2002; figure 17.5). Its interpretation is still a matter of debate. There are seven texts written on the bone (Onyshkevych 2002: 163-4, with translations). Text A reads:
Seven. A weak wolf.
Seventy. A fierce lion.
Seven hundred. A friendly archer - a gift to the power of the physician.
Seven thousand. A wide dolphin.
Peace to the Olbian polis. I bless her.
I remember Leto.
Figure 17.4 Temple dedicated to Aphrodite at Berezan: plan (1) and reconstruction of facade (2)
Source: After Kryzhitskij (2001: figs. 1, 5).
Texts B-E translate as:
Seven.
To Apollo, the Didymaian, the Milesian.
Bringer of fortune of the mother (or motherland).
Victor of the north (or northern wind).
To the Didymaian/The Didymaian.
Text F is restored as “seventy oxen to Didymaian (Apollo).” Text G repeats a phrase from text D. Some interpret the plaque as bearing elements of resemblance
Figure 17.5 Drawing of bone plaque from Berezan: front (1) and reverse (2)
Source: After Onyshkevych (2002: figs. 6, 7).
To the three Olbian Orphic plaques and having Orphic connections itself. Although it is not possible to divine the exact meaning of the texts, many elements suggest strongly a link to a cult of Apollo Hebdoman in the Berezan-Olbia area, and a possible connection to the Orphic cult known later in Olbia. In part, the purpose of the plaque was probably votive; the texts may represent a hymn or prayer used in the cult.
Domestic architecture from the end of the seventh through the late sixth century possessed some distinctive features (Tsetskhladze 2004). Two main types of dwelling may be identified: one in Milesian colonies, the other in Teian (e. g. at Phanagoria). Milesian foundations around the whole Black Sea are characterized by the presence of dugouts and semi-dugouts. This kind of architecture survived into the last quarter of the sixth century or a little later. It is not surprising when new evidence from Miletus itself is taken into account. Milesian domestic architecture was very simple and some evidence there points to the existence of subterranean houses. In the Teian colony of Phanagoria we have one-room mudbrick houses and also wattle-and-daub architecture. In general, stone architecture and regular town-planning do not appear around the Black Sea until the late archaic period, especially from the middle of the fifth century. The most plausible explanation for this change is the arrival of Athenians (Tsetskhladze 2004).
The late archaic period marked the end of colonization of the Black Sea by the Greeks, but this does not mean that no further waves of Greeks came to the Black Sea. The Athenians showed great interest in the area, but most of their permanent settlements did not appear until the second half of the fifth century and were unconnected with the waves of colonization undertaken by the Greek world in the eighth-sixth centuries. Rather, it was a completely new phenomenon, a manifestation of Athenian imperialism. Admittedly, early Attic black-figure pottery, which dates from ca. 600-550, has been found in Berezan, Histria, and Apollonia, but this was precisely the time that Athenian political expansion reached the Propontis. The most important Athenian foundations were Sigeion and the settlements in Thracian Chersonesus. In the wake of the growing difficulties the lonians experienced with the Persian empire and the suppression of the Ionian Revolt, the colonial and commercial activities of the Ionians decreased and Athens began to turn its attention to the Black Sea market. During the Graeco-Persian wars it was difficult to sail through the Straits. We do not find many imports of Attic pottery there at this time. After the consolidation of the Athenian maritime empire, the amount of fine Attic pottery increases. It was marketed in all parts of Pontus but the largest share seems to have gone to the Bosporan area, to Olbia and Apollonia Pontica (Tsetskhladze 1998c).
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