The Rodniki cemetery: topography and archaeology

A vast complex of burial constructions forming three landscape areas was discovered during the fieldwork. The excavations showed that the Late Archaic sections of the cemetery (end of the 6th - first third of the 5th centuries BC) were located 300 m apart on the northeastern slopes of two promontory-like hills (Rodniki-2 and Rodniki-3), funerary traditions practiced at these sites were typical for the population inhabiting the Abrau peninsula in the Early Iron Age. Chronology was determined based on imported Classical ceramic supplied from the Greek colonies in the Black Sea coast (near present-day Anapa). The Sinda Harbor, which was the most important colony, became an urban center that was subsequently renamed into Gorgippia when these lands were incorporated into the Bosporan Kingdom early in 4th century BC. Topography and design of funerary constructions from the Gorgippia (or Bosporan) period (late 5th-2nd centuries BC) were identified in the Rodniki-1 section. They clearly demonstrate that indigenous traditions intermingled with Classical traditions at the level of the local elite, this process was accompanied by formation of a more sophisticated social organization of the population that lived in southeastern Sindica.