Roman Figured Aequipondia from Eklizi-Burun Sanctuary (Mountain Crimea)

Revue Archeologique. 2022. Vol. 2. No. 74. P. 359–379.

Lysenko A., Mordvintseva V.

Figured aequipondia for the Roman steelyards are rare finds, not only for the Crimea, but also for the entire ancient Oecumene. Most of them come from Italy. Until recently only two finds were known for the Northern Pontic region – a weight in the form of a female bust with a Roman hair-dress (Shirokaya Balka locality, Krasnodar region, Russia), and a weight shaped as a bust of Minerva (Kholodnyi village, Rostov region, Russia). The third specimen was found in 2005 within the sanctuary of Eklizi-Burun (Crimea). Usually, no more than one such object originates from one site, with the exception of Pompeii, where at least five specimens are known. Therefore, the discovery of the second Roman figurative weight on Eklizi-Burun in 2020 is an extraordinary event, which to some extent increases the information potential of both artifacts.

Keywords: Крым, Crimea, weight, sanctuary, святилище, Roman antiquity, гиря, римская античность