Archaeologists find evidence of a possible Roman settlement in the center of Odesa

Students of the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after Ushynsky and employees of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine have found Roman pottery and building blocks at the foot of the monument to Duke de Richelieu on Prymorskyi Boulevard in Odesa.

According to the rector of the university, Andriy Krasnozhon, the Roman red-lacquer bowl discovered in the ancient horizon - the first such find in this area - expands the time frame of the monument to the first centuries AD, the Dumskaya newspaper reports.

"Until now, it was believed that there was a Greek settlement on the site of Odesa in ancient times dating back to the 5th-8th centuries BC. And now, for the first time, we are recording the first signs of the possible presence of people during the Roman Empire," the publication quoted the historian as saying.

Andriy Krasnazhon also noted that an ancient layer more than one meter thick appeared south of Duke, while in the north, where excavations were carried out in 2021, it was not. According to archaeologists, the settlement could have been limited to the cape and ravine, in the area of the modern Potemkin Stairs. This also coincides with the logic of the placement of fortifications - perhaps that is why the Khadzhibey Castle, stormed by Joseph de Ribas's troops, stood somewhere here.

The findings also include utility pits, the remains of adobe structures, Scythian ceramics, fragments of amphorae from the fifth century BC, and a cluster of large hewn stones.

"It is possible that these could be the remains of the Khadjibey fortress, which were moved during its dismantling. The stones weigh up to 60 kg and have hewn edges. One resembles a capital (the top of a column) turned upside down. This is the material used to build fortress walls, up to 10 meters high - not ordinary houses. However, we also found a fragment of a bowl dating back to the XIV century, which suggests that these blocks do not belong to the Khadjibey fortress, but are earlier in origin, possibly from the Italian factories of Ginestra," noted Andriy Krasnozhon.

In March, students of the South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after Ushynsky together with specialists from the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine began a georadar survey of the central part of Primorsky Boulevard. Its results determined the location of the current excavations.

Excavations on Prymorskyi Boulevard have already been carried out in 2020 and 2021, but the area opposite the funicular has never been explored, and, according to scientists, this is where the foundation of the Khadzhibey Castle may be located.

In particular, during the research in 2021, more than a thousand artifacts were found in the chronological range from antiquity to the period of occupation of Odesa and several construction sites from the 18th century were recorded.

Кирило Бойко