Amphora finds from the earliest layer in phanagoria

The paper describes amphora finds from excavations of the Upper City in Phanagoria in 2017 where occupational layers and constructions (houses, pits, etc.) dating to the second half of the 6th - early 5th centuries BC were explored. The key conceptual focus of the paper is based on the date of Phanagoria foundation which is reliably established (545/40 BC). Based on this fact, the author believes that the finds under discussion can help not only to compile the list of exporting centers which transported products to the North Pontic region in ceramic amphorae after the aforesaid date, but also provide an opportunity to establish reliable chronological benchmarks for classification schemes reflecting the evolution of the forms of amphorae coming from such centers. For example, presence of very few fragments of Milesian amphorae in Phanagoria implies that after the 540s BC their import stopped, while the similarly small number of fragments of Chian amphorae with ‘light-colored slip’ means that this Ionic center began to produce a different type of amphorae for transporting products (with a funnel-shaped neck)...