New Finds of Clay Oil Lamps from the Southern Suburb of Chersoneses

The article examines 11 clay molded and hand-made oil lamps found during the rescue excavations in the southern suburb of Chersoneses. The lamps are dated from the 1st century AD to the 7th century AD. Most of the lamps were found in a cluster of cremations from the Roman period. Five lamps belong to the Loeschke Type VIII, which is the most common type of molded oil lamps in the Roman period in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. The shields of the lamps depict rare narrative scenes, i. e. a man sitting on a rock with a hoe at his feet and a dancing satyr with a handful of grapes and a vessel. Apparently, almost all the lamps were made in various Pontic centers. The discovered objects expand our understanding of the funerary offerings at the Chersoneses necropolis in the first centuries AD.