The lapidary collection of the Taman ancient settlement: identification options of the Byzantine reliefs

The paper presents heterogeneous carved stone blocks of the Middle Ages, originating from different parts of the Taman settlement. Some of them are preserved only in photos, the rest are kept in the collection of the Taman archaeological Museum, as well as in Krasnodar. The considered artifacts are divided into three groups: 1) columns’ capitals and their fragments; 2) fragment of the plate depicting an angel holding the scarf; 3) blocks decorated with “twist”-type ornaments. Byzantine reliefs belong to two chronological groups. The first group (end of the 5th-6th c.) unites the four capitals and the fragment of plate with angel. Their presence proves the hypothesis that a church building of the early Byzantine period was located somewhere on the Taman settlement. The second group (9th-11th c.) includes the lost reliefs that were registered in the photos of the archaeological records by A.S. Bashkirov and B.A. Rybakov. It is likely that they are connected with the Byzantine church of the inscribed-cross type on the four pillars or columns, built in the 10th-11th centuries and existed in the Taman settlement till the 18th century. Analogies and the date of construction of the church allow narrowing down the period, shifting the emphasis in favor of the 11th century.