Alabaster Vessels from the Volna 1 Necropolis

This article presents the results of the first stage of a comprehensive study of alabaster vessels from burials of the second to the early third quarter of the 5th to the second half of the 4th centuries BC of the Volna 1 necropolis (Taman Peninsula). A total of 7 alabaster vessels were found, including fragmented ones; whole forms belong to type A-1, and the time of their manufacture can be attributed, in general, to 460—435 BC. Samples of five vessels from burial no. 322, 602, 629, 631, 642 were examined by optical and polarization microscopy, SEM-EDS, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and tomography. The alabasters from burial no. 322, 629, 641, 642 were made of calcium alabaster; the vessels from burials no. 602, 631 were made of anhydrite-gypsum alabaster. All alabasters made of raw calcium material, as well as one vessel made of anhydrite-gypsum alabaster (no. 602), come from burials of the early period of the functioning of the necropolis; most likely, they reflect the existence of the Greek tradition of placing vessels with oils in burials and have a utilitarian function. Another vessel made of anhydrite-gypsum alabaster (no. 631) is dated to the second half of the 4th century BC and comes from a family tomb, where a funerary wreath was also found, analogies to which come from the high-status tombs of Macedonia. The discovery of funerary wreaths together with alabaster vessels in Macedonian tombs diagnoses a change in the semantic load of placing alabaster in burials, and allows us to consider the vessel from Volna 1 more as an insignia

Embalming · Macedonian · Period (music · Quarter (Canadian coin · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis