Identifying the Tribes of the Eastern Black Sea Region, by Sujatha Chandrasekaran
Exploring the Hospitable Sea Proceedings of the International Workshop on the Black Sea in Antiquity held in Thessaloniki, 21-23 September 2012 edited by Manolis Manoledakis. ISBN 9781407311142.
pp 95-117
Abstract: The tribes of the Eastern Black Sea region played a crucial role in the political and economic affairs of the ancient kingdoms of the Bosporus and Colchis, i.e., at the edge of the Greek oikoumene. While ancient Greek and Latin sources refer to a number of these tribes by name, descriptions of them tend to be brief and biased. In order to understand the true nature of these peoples, and place them geographically, it is essential to examine both linguistic and archaeological evidence. Linguistic analysis of the tribal names and epigraphic evidence clearly attest to the distinct identities of these tribes. Archaeological evidence, however, plainly demonstrates a shared material culture of the Maeotians. Variations in the burial culture, together with the linguistic distinctions, allow us to classify the ancient tribes of the region as different sub-groups of the Maeotians, while also serving to establish their individual territories within the Eastern Black Sea region.
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