Composition and Probable Sources of Stone Material of the Phanagoria Acropolis

This paper presents the results of studies of the stone foundations of three buildings of the Acropolis in the ancient Greek city of Phanagoria (the Taman Peninsula). It has been established that rocks of various compositions were used for the construction: volcanic, plutonic, metamorphic, and sedimentary. The composition of the building stone varies depending on the age of the foundation. The youngest building (340–350 BCE) is dominated by organogenic limestones from the Kerch-Taman region. In the oldest foundations (525–550 BCE), limestones are absent. This change reflects the emergence of new trade links and new closer sources of building stone, so the supplies of building material became more convinient. It is probably associated with Phanagoria becoming a part of the Bosporan kingdom at the beginning of the 4th century BCE. A significant amount of stone is represented by round boulders, which were imported from the southern coast of the Black Sea or from of the Marmara and Aegean Seas. The building stones of the pier of the Classical period in the port and the ground buildings of Phanagoria are identical in composition. Consequently, from the beginning of the construction of the Acropolis (mid-6th century BCE) to the construction of the pier (450–350 BCE), large quantities of building stone were regularly brought to Phanagoria. The stone was brought not from nearby areas but from distant locations.