'Historical and Archaeological Context of the Taman Peninsula'

Golubitskoe Art Foundation is releasing a new article by archaeologist Varvara Busova titled 'Historical and Archaeological Context of the Taman Peninsula' on history and archaeology of the Taman Peninsula, including the area presently occupied by Golubitskaya village.

The article deals with the history of the oldest settlement in West Asia, numerous conquests that took place over the centuries and peoples that used to inhabit the Kerch and Taman regions. A prime example of the above is the ancient Greeks who in the 6th century BC established the largest colonies in the area: Phanagoria (Sennoy village) and Hermonassa (present-day Taman), introduced the winemaking tradition and significantly influenced local custom and culture. The Silk Road and Cyril and Methodius Route ran in close proximity to Golubitskaya village that was home to Genoese merchants who traded with the Byzantine Empire.

In her research paper Varvara Busova has compiled the data on archaeological finds from different historical periods in the region’s development. It can be used as an extensive historical account of Golubitskaya village and its surrounding areas. The collected material will be of interest to the residency participants, professional local lore researchers and a wider audience visiting the Taman Peninsula.

Did you know that the common Russian euphemism tmutarakan refers to a medieval town that was situated on the site of the present-day Taman village? That’s where they exiled disgraced princes of Kievan Rus and poet Mikhail Lermontov, and that’s where they discovered some of the earliest Russian written records (9th century AD) – the Stone of Tmutarakan – that is currently housed in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

In addition to the Stone of Tmutarakan, the State Hermitage Museum storage rooms contain other artefacts from the Black Sea culture – for example, a collection of gold jewellery from burial mounds that was started by Peter the Great. In the 19th century, the chief curator of the Imperial Hermitage used to receive boxfuls of gold finds from Taman and affectionately catalogued them in the inventory records as ‘spangles’. The research paper lists the largest archaeological collections that contain finds made during archaeological excavations in Kuban: antique ceramics and statuettes, presently stored in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow; ancient sculptures and written records, housed by the Eastern Crimean Historical and Cultural Museum-Preserve.

You can find the full article on our website.

The young scientist Varvara Busova is the first participant of the Golubitskoe Art Residency. She will start her archaeological residency in November 2020 and carry on her research into the history and archaeology of Krasnodar Region through the lens of upcycling, a phenomenon frequently associated with DIY culture and reuse of items of material culture.