negatives reports
Ancient city of Chersonesos
 - North area
 - South area
 - West area
 - North-East area
 - South-East area
 - Central area
 - Citadel
 - Harbour area
 - Undetermined area
Necropoleis
 - Northern
 - Western
 - Near Karantinnaya bay
 - Undetermined necropolis
Chora
 - Heraclean peninsula
Environs
 - City Environs
 - Remote Environs
Museum
 - Exhibitions
 - Staff
 - Everyday life
Unidentified
Ancient city of Chersonesos
 - North area
 - South area
 - West area
 - North-East area
 - South-East area
 - Central area
 - Citadel
 - Harbour area
 - Undetermined area
Necropoleis
 - Northern
 - Western
 - Near Karantinnaya bay
 - Undetermined necropolis
Chora
 - Heraclean peninsula
Environs
 - City Environs
 - Remote Environs
Museum
 - Exhibitions
 - Staff
 - Everyday life
Unidentified

Report of the excavations of the Basilica on a Hill in 1974 (expedition by the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Archaeology)
Year: 1974
Author
S. A. Belyayev
Description

1974 works of the Chersonesos Expedition by the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR were concentrated in the area of the "Basilica on a Hill" in Chersonesos. 1974 works are direct continuation of 1973 works. The aims and tasksof 1974 expedition were the same as they were put in 1973. In this year, the aim of the expedition was to uncover the area in the main part of the basilica down to the bedrock and to unearthits north and south annexes, which existence became obvious in result of 1973 works. We were not successful in excavating the whole basilica in the year under report because of too large volume of the work.

The main works of the year under reports were in the central part of the basilica, no the west and north of it. Besides that, in order to determine the direction of works in the next year and the possibility to usemachines to remove the backfill, to the south of the basilica where we can see a stonework on the present daily surface and two pits with sagged sizes, edges of the pits were unearthed and some rooms were discovered and one of them was partly cleaned.    

Total area touched by the excavations in the year under report covers about 750-770 square metres. The excavation trench is 0.50 to 1.50 m deep. The expedition's works rsulted in the uncovering of a relatively large area of mediaeval necropolis. It is likely that it was the first time in the history of Chersonesos excavation when mediaeval burials with rich grave goods were uncovered; the goods inluded gilded hair-plates and set of different silver finger-rings, besides which a large percentage of the graves was unovered in undisturbed ondition, a rather rare situation in other cult onstrutions. The material is too large, so it is too early to speak about exact chronology of the graves. In our point of view, 1974 excavations are generaly very interesting. They both gave new categories of artifacts new for Chersonesos and gave another evidence that every area of Chersonesos is interesting and important, and can supply absolutely unpredicted resultes.They areeven more important because the west city area has been studied worser than the rest: north coast, south-east or the Port Area.


Text of the report, list of burials. Total 71 pages.

NPTC Archive. File no. 1725.

 

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