The glass beaker with applique snake-thread decoration from Frontovoye 3

During the excavations of the in-ground Frontovoye-3 cemetery in a suburb of Sevastopol (southwestern Crimea) an imported glass beaker with a floral ornament made with applique snake-threads was found. The beaker is unique for the Crimea. It was discovered in a grave dating to the end of the 2nd - mid 3rd centuries. This decoration known as snake-thread decoration or Schlagenfaden Glas is typical for the products from the eastern Mediterranean, Cologne (and, possibly, a number of other West European workshops) and Pannonia. Vessels with such ornament were luxury items used as table settings in houses of rural and urban elite; as a rule, they are found in rich burials. The dataset on the form and nature of the decoration on the beaker from Frontovoye does not make it possible to say where exactly it was produced; however, it is likely that it was made in a European workshop. Its discovery in one of the Frontovoye graves can be easily explained. During the discussed period the southern part and some areas in the southwestern part of Taurica were under control of the Roman military administrations and its economic links with Chersoneses were substantially expanded.