Emmanuel Botte et Victoria Leitch (dir.) Fish & Ships Production et commerce des salsamenta durant l'Antiquité Publications du Centre Camille Jullian Fish products and their trade in Tauric Chersonesos/Byzantine Cherson: the development of a traditional craft from Antiquity to the Middle Ages Martina Čechová DOI: 10.4000/books.pccj.1746 Publisher: Publications du Centre Camille Jullian Place of publication: Aix-en-Provence Year of publication: 2014 Published on OpenEdition Books: 6 April 2020 Serie: Bibliothèque d’archéologie méditerranéenne et africaine Electronic ISBN: 9782491788063 http://books.openedition.org Printed version Date of publication: 1 January 2014 Electronic reference ČECHOVÁ, Martina. Fish products and their trade in Tauric Chersonesos/Byzantine Cherson: the development of a traditional craft from Antiquity to the Middle Ages In: Fish & Ships: Production et commerce des salsamenta durant l'Antiquité [online]. Aix-en-Provence: Publications du Centre Camille Jullian, 2014 (generated 08 avril 2020). Available on the Internet: <http://books.openedition.org/pccj/ 1746>. ISBN: 9782491788063. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/books.pccj.1746. Fish products and their trade in Tauric Chersonesos/Byzantine Cherson: the development of a traditional craft from Antiquity to the Middle Ages Martina Čechová Introduction Despite its distance from other centres of the ancient world and a location bordering barbarian territory, auric Chersonesos was founded in the second Chersonesos/Cherson was continually inhabited for half of the 5th c. BC as a colony of Herakleia almost two thousand years. It began as a Greek colony Pontike, which was a colony of the Greek city and then became a significant ally of the Roman empire. of MegaraT on the southern shores of the Crimea; an out- The Romans wanted to keep the North Pontic area peace- post of the Classical world. Tauric Chersonesos, was, ful, and so placed a garrison at Chersonesos. Later on the however, on the western side of the Crimean peninsula, Black Sea area came under the influence of the Eastern and was established in order to increase Greek influence Roman empire, or, as we call it nowadays, the Byzantine in this area. The centre of ancient Chersonesos was on empire. Cherson’s history of good relations with the the western side of the Qarantine Bay, west of Sevastopol super powers (Athens, Macedonia, the Roman Empire or Bay, a major Black Sea port with excellent natural har- the Bosporian Kingdom) and barbarian neighbours was bouring facilities. Qarantine Bay had the advantage of due to skillful politics. Chersonesos thus survived the tur- being surrounded by sea from three sides, which was bulent period of the 3rd c. AD when many of the former very important from a defensive point of view. The natu- Greek colonies of the Black Sea area were destroyed by ral conditions around Chersonesos were very promising: barbarian raids. When Chersonesos became Byzantine, there were large pastures, extensive arable lands and it remained important as the northernmost Byzantine suitable conditions for fishing. The location also had outpost, protecting the empire from ouside enemies, and potential as a trading hub. (see fig. 1 for location.) was known from this time as Cherson. Fig. 1. Locational map of the study area (from Crimean Chersonesos 2003). 229 MARTINA ČECHOVÁ Cherson was destroyed at the very end of the 13th c. in the area, which was used not only as a commodity by Mongolian hords and was finally abandoned after to sell but also as a preservative for fish processing. It another attack about 100 years later. Even before its was Strabo who described the salt beds in the vicinity abandonment its importance had greatly diminished, of Cherson for the first time. 2 He wrote about a place since trade routes to Crimea led more to the east, to 15 stadia from Cherson (approximately 6 km) where salt the Italian colonies of Sudak or Kaffa (Feodosija). The was worked – in the north-western part of the Herakleian geographically strategical location of the Heracleian peninsula, where salt mining developed from Antiquity. peninsula was not recognized again until the era of Salt was a cheap but necessary commodity and trade Empress Catherine the Great (1729-1796), when Russian in salt was one of the most important components of naval bases were sought on the Black Sea. The city of Cherson‘s economy in Antiquity and the Middle Ages Sevastopol was hence founded at a bay close to ancient alike. 3 Salt was also an essential part of the fish pro- Cherson. Fortunately, thanks to the decision to establish duction industry, since fish spoil extremly quickly if Sevastopol next to, and not over, the ruins, the ancient they are not preserved such as through smoking, drying, city was not affected by modern building activities. preserving or indeed salting. The annual amount of salt Cherson is therefore considered as an extremly suitable needed for fish processing in Cherson is estimated to be and important place for research, where all the aspects of 8,00000 kg. 4 ancient and medieval city life can be studied. Archaeological excavations of Cherson began in 2. Making garum, salting vats 1827. Despite many difficulties mainly in the early years of excavation, many monuments from the city’s long The fish sauce, garum, was a very popular foodstuff history have been preserved. The protected area covers in Antiquity and also in the Middle Ages. The prepara- 500 hectares; only one third has been excavated so far. tion of garum was described in a Roman cookbook by Ancient Chersonesos was built according to Greek Apicius 5 and also in Geoponica, a 10th c. volume con- architectonic rules for cities (the ancient building boom taining advice on breeding domestic animals, veterinary hit the city in the 3rd c. BC, when the walls, the thea- medicine, viticulture, oleoculture and also salting meat tre, the mint, temples, private houses and the agora and fish and the construction of salting facilities. 6 Vats were built and Chersonesos turned into a flourishing were constructed in Cherson for making garum and the Hellenistic city). The rectangular plan of the streets was remains represent the best evidence for the size of the kept despite many reconstructions in the Middle Ages. fish production industry in Cherson, with over 100 vats so far having been recorded. Moreover, many objects Besides its political significance, Cherson served as a such as fish bones, sinkstones, hooks or needles have trading centre where nomads could sell their products and been found in the houses in Cherson, providing evidence vice versa. However, the economy of Cherson was based for this industry. 7 not only on its position as a trading crossroads; there were also various workshop industries that enabled Cherson to The salting vats in question were first excavated at trade its own products, one of which was fish products. the end of the 19th c.; at this time they were considered to be granaries or water cisterns. Their true function as fish salting vats was revealed when the residues from 1. Fish industry at Cherson the walls and bases of the vats were examined and fish Natural conditions for fish processing remains (or even layers of garum, see below the exam- ple of the vat no. 91) were found. 8 Like any seaside town, Cherson was involved with fishing. However, at Cherson this evolved from simple The average volume of Cherson´s vats is 25-30 cubic fishing to an advanced industry. One reason for this was metres, usually 3 m or more in depth. In comparison that the natural conditions for fishing were extremly favourable in the northern Black Sea because the Dniepr and Don rivers brought fresh water to the sea, which 2. Strabo. VII, 4, 7. 3. Soročan 2005, p. 235. created good conditions for fish life in shallow coastal 1 4. Hojte 2005, p. 154. areas. Furthermore, there was an abundance of salt 5. Apicius, 1, 8. 6. Geoponica. 20, XLVI. 7. Romančuk 2005, p. 99. 1. Mylona 2008, p. 121. 8. Id., p. 104. 230 FISH PRODUCTS AND THEIR TRADE IN TAURIC CHERSONESOS/BYZANTINE CHERSON with the vats from other northern Black Sea towns like 3. The End of Antiquity and Tyritake, Cherson‘s are very large. In Tyritake there are the Early Middle Ages 8 shallow vats situated close to each other; they were suitable for salting large fish. However, the large, deep vats at Cherson were designed for salting smaller fish When vat no. 33 was found, the theory that the fish and making garum. 9 This suggestion is supported by industry was in decline in the 4th c. AD was reconsid- evidence of anchovie bones in their bases. The shape of ered. More vats from the Middle Ages were excavated, the vats varies; they were hewn in the rock or dug out of and researchers admitted that the fish production industry the earth. Their walls were covered by limestone bricks successfully survived the transition between Antiquity and cemented to be water-resistant, and the floors were and the Middle Ages. 15 Although many of the vats were covered with pieces of pottery, bricks or limestone plates backfilled over time, new ones were built and the fish and also cemented. Some of the bricks had stamps on industry was not interrupted. The cause of the backfill- them, which can be used for dating, such as from vat ing was building development within the city; there is no nos 60, 83, 84, 86, 96. 10 known reason to suppose there was any reduction in fish processing. For example, a large number of vats were Cherson´s vats were not located in a closed district backfilled during the reconstruction works that took within the city but were connected to (private) houses place in Cherson at the turn of the 7th c.