A changing cityscape. Comprehensive new conception of the genesis of Olbia Pontica for the archaic and classical period.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jochen Fornasier
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: since 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 424844636

The aim of the German-Ukrainian cooperation project is a comprehensive new notion of Olbia Pontica’s urban development in the Archaic-Classical period, whose course as usually hypothesized does no longer match the current state of research. The starting point of our investigations is the discovery, that - based on the latest excavation results - it is impossible to devide the Olbian territory into a core city and a suburb. While the first phase of the project has already produced many significant results, the second application period will be used to complete and synthesize the available sources of information for the redesign of the historical course of events. The new activities planned against the background of the current geopolitical situation in Ukraine include a complete analysis and publication of all research data achieved so far in the project, a re-evaluation of relevant results from old excavations as well as a distribution analysis of Archaic-Classical graves from the Olbian necropolis and finally the creation of a general plan for the western part of Olbia of the 6th-4th century BC. If field research can be carried out on site in the future, it will continue the very successful excavations so far and complete the data basis for the new notion of Olbian urban history. The planned activities will continue to focus on the structure in the excavation area П-1, which, based on all the facts known so far, is key for understanding the urban planning’s design. The complete analysis of all available data on the Late Archaic fortification as well as the systematic integration of older excavations from the 20th century also allow to further specify the chronological sequence of relevant building objects in the study area. A distribution analysis of the graves of the Archaic-Classical necropolis of Olbia as well as the reassessment of a hitherto unpublished sacred zone of the 4th century B.C. serve the same goal, providing comprehensive and scientifically reliable data for the intended new conception. Finally, on the basis of the new archaeological evidence in Olbia, a supra-regional comparison will be made to investigate whether and to what extent a supra-regionally comparable planning system for the genesis of a Greek colony can be identified. In just a few years, the German-Ukrainian cooperation project has succeeded in fundamentally revising the decades-old ideas on the genesis of the Milesian colony by new, scientifically robust results. The proposed second project phase is intended to bring this research to a profitable and sustainable completion.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Ukraine
• Co-Investigators: Privatdozentin Dr. Alla Bujskich; Dr. Alexander Kuzmischchev