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The coin material of Roman times, which was found during archaeological studies of an ancient settlement on the island of Berezan, is analyzed in the paper. The ancient settlement on the island of Berezan is primarily known as the first Greek colony in the Northern Black Sea region. In addition to the sites of the archaic period of the 6th – 5th centuries BCE, the objects belonging to other historical epochs are studied on the island. Roman times are represented by a large number of materials: ceramics, epigraphic finds, damaged archaeological sites (remains of dwellings, utility pits, etc.). Almost all researchers of the site have singled out single artefacts from Roman times. Unfortunately, the cultural layers of the first centuries of the New Era were destroying starting from the construction of the Turkish fortress finishing the works that preceded World War II. And nowadays, the process of destruction is still in progress due to large-scale grave robbery. In recent years, during archaeological studies, the coins of Roman times have usually been found in mixed redeposited layers. Coins of the 2nd – 3rd centuries CE are rare archaeological artefacts, found during research on the island, but at the same time, they are not unique finds. Currently, there is no generalized work cataloguing the numismatic material of the Roman times found during more than a century of archaeological study of the ancient settlement on the island of Berezan. Information about coins can be found in archeological reports and publications only as additional material. Such finds are mentioned in the works of P.Y. Karyshkovskyi, V.A. Anokhina, M.F. Boltenko, S.B. Buiskykh, V.V. Krutilov, and others. At the end of the 20th – beginning of the 21st century, coins of the Roman times were found at different excavation units of the archaeological research on the island headed by various scholars. V.V. Nazarov found coins at excavation units ‘R-1V’ and ‘T’, V.V. Krutilov at ‘T’ and ‘O’, and O.I. Smirnov and D.V. Bondarenko at ‘HSh’. All material is clearly dated to the 2nd – 3rd centuries CE, classified by Roman and Olbia minting of bronze and silver and belongs to the reigns of the emperors Antoninus Pius, Septimius Severus, and Archon of Olbia Dada son of Satyros. This gives us the opportunity to support the assumption of Ukrainian archaeologists that in the second half of the 2nd – beginning of the 3rd century CE on the island of Berezan there was a fortification of Roman troops detachment which garrisoned in Olbia.

The results of rescue work at the damaged archaeology site (barrow) on the territory of Tashyne village council, Berezanka District, Mykolaiv Region located to the north of Prohresivka village are highlighted in the paper. The damage was found during the frontal and local archaeological survey carried out in the frame of Tashyne village council expert examination regarding the presence or absence of archaeological sites in the area of the wind farm and related facilities installation. The history of archaeological works in Berezanka area is analyzed from the first archaeological surveys at the end of the 19th century, works during the 20th century with their stages to the description of the latest studies at the beginning of the 21st century. The studied area is very rich in archaeological sites in a wide chronological range. Basically, these are burial complexes (barrows) from the Late Neolithic to the Early Iron Age and the settlements of the Bronze Age. There are many archaeological objects of ancient times (settlements and burial grounds) belonging to the Olbia rural district (choras) dated from the 5th century BCE to the beginning of the CE. A brief description of the studied burials and their preliminary identification is given. Three burials, one of which is a double one, are described in detail. Two burials belong to Babyne historical and cultural circle dated to the end of the 1st quarter – beginning of the 2nd quarter of the 2nd millennium BCE. The double burial is in a small catacomb with a niche, and a separate one is in a stone box (made of large and medium limestone slabs). The inventory and the location of the skeletons in the graves are given. One burial, taking into account the typology of the skeleton position and the location of the entrance grave relative to the probable center of the mound and the main burial of an earlier historical epoch, is more likely may be dated to the beginning of CE (Sarmatian time, Middle Sarmatian archaeological culture). Taking into account the achieved results the further work at the site will enable: to complete the study of the burial complex; to conduct a comprehensive analysis of anthropological, zoological and material evidence; to set the bounds of the site; to identify the main burial; to separate the primary mound from the later layers (additions) of the mound; to introduce new data on the presence of the nomads of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age in the North Black Sea region; to separate or fill the contact areas of different local population groups of one cultural and historical community; to study the migration and trade and economic relations of the region in the specified historical period.

Vessels made using the core-formed technique were coming to the main Greek centers of the Northern Black Sea region, especially to Olbia and Panticapaeum, in the 6th – the 1st century BC. About 280 vials made using the core-formed technique were found in Olbia. This assemblage is the largest on the northern coast of the Pontus. The Olbia assemblage reflects the history of three consecutive Mediterranean core-formed glass industries. The most common form of the core-formed vessel in Olbia was alabastrum (108 items). In addition, 50 amphoriskoi, 10 aryballoi, 14 oinochoae, 2 unguentaria, and one hydriske are represented. The other items are very fragmented, and this prevents their typological attribution. The core-formed vessels were coming to Olbia from the last quarter of the 6th century BC to the beginning of the 1st century AD. Most of the strictly dated vessels, just as in quantitative aspect, so in terms of typological diversity are known for the period of the last quarter of the 6th century BC – first quarter of the 5th century BC. The absolute majority of the vessels belong to the 5th century BC. However, there are fewer strictly dated vessels here; as a rule, they can be dated only to one century in general. The group of vessels of the second half of the 5th century BC allows assuming a certain decrease in the amount of core-formed vials coming into the city. The decrease is also recorded on the materials of the 4th – 3rd century BC. From the middle of the 3rd century BC, there was their almost complete disappearance, only a few items are dated to the 1st century BC – the beginning of the 1st century AD. This situation shows the general development of Olbia. The vessels were found in the following contexts: funeral, temple-sacral, public, and housing. Findings in housing contexts are rare. Only the Lower City (NGS) gave about 20 fragments. It can be explained by a larger area of the excavation site. The vials were found in the tombs of Olbia inhabitants from the 4th to the 1st century BC. They were systematically used in the burial ritual. In the temple-sacral contexts, the fragments of core-formed vessels were found in the temenoi of Olbia: Southern, Eastern, and Western. The biggest assemblage of core-formed vessels (29 items) was found in Southern temenos, which was presumably related to the cult of Aphrodite. The total number of core-formed vessels from temenoi exceeds the number of such items originating from public and housing contexts and is inferior only to the number of vessels found in the necropolis. Olbia is a model site for the study of the ancient glass of the North Black Sea region.

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the source base and historiography of the study of slave relations in Pontic Olbia. The limited source base hampered the study of slavery in Olbia polis for a long time. At times, that led to forming hypotheses based on ideological, not backed by factual data, cliches, and sometimes made the researchers completely avoid issues considering Olbia social history. In recent decades, new sources have been introduced into the scientific circulation, the most informative of which are private letters on lead plates and ceramics, the information on which enables significant intensification of the study of Olbia social history, including slave relations. New sources have made it possible to confidently, and not hypothetically, date the spread of slavery in various spheres of the social and economic life of Olbia to the initial stages of the polis formation (the earliest known letter dated the third quarter of the 6th century BC). Just in the last third of that century, Olbia slaves also appeared on foreign markets. Thanks to both new facts and comparative historical information, the practice of using slave labor in Olbia's agriculture can be reasonably assumed, at least, on the land plots of wealthy landowners. Participation of slaves and freedmen in trade operations is an ascertained fact. Slave labor was also quite probably used in logging. It can also be said about various «living goods» operations, such as mortgages, loans, and sales, with slaves supplied both to home and foreign markets. Besides analyzing the information of epigraphic and written sources, the paper outlines the directions of further research, which should be based on a comprehensive study of epigraphic and archaeological sources, taking into account theoretical achievements of contemporary historiography. This should allow trying to estimate the scale of the slave labor used in various sectors of Olbia economy and, possibly, estimating the proportion of slaves in the social structure of the polis.