Ukraine, soldiers dig trenches and find ancient Roman amphorae

Curious find in Ukraine, where soldiers from Kiev, belonging to the 126th Territorial Defense Brigade, stationed in Odessa, recovered some Roman amphorae while digging trenches around the Black Sea city. The discovery dates back to last week: according to military officials, these are amphorae from the 3rd-4th centuries AD. By decision of the brigade commander, the finds were handed over to the staff of the Odessa Archaeological Museum, which will study them and keep them in its collection.

The amphorae date from a time when Odessa was a Roman port, although the city had already been a Greek colony. Because of the war in Ukraine, archaeologists have enormous difficulties working, but in this case soldiers were able to safely transport the objects (in addition to the amphorae, some ceramic artifacts were also found) to the Odessa Archaeological Museum. The institute is one of the oldest in Ukraine: it was founded in 1825, is run by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and holds a collection of objects, works, and artifacts that tell the ancient history of southern Ukraine over a period from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages.

It is certainly not a sensational find, as Igor Pistruil, a researcher at the Odessa Archaeological Museum, confirmed to the Ukrainian news agency USI: thousands of amphorae have in fact been found around the city, although those found by the 126th Brigade soldiers at the moment have not yet been studied by specialists who can determine whether they are rare pieces. “The state of preservation,” Pistruil said, “is quite good: after all, whole amphorae are usually found in burials. However, since they are often found shattered, I consider the finding of whole amphorae in this settlement interesting. Moreover, the military did not damage the amphorae during extraction.”

Andrey Krasnozhon, Ph.D. in historical sciences and rector of the National University of Southern Ukraine, focuses on one particular aspect: “it is important,” he said, “that the pieces were delivered to the museum and not resold. [...] Our army is civilian, it’s different. They found artifacts, registered them, handed them over to the museum. Well done. This shows that the 126th Brigade and the armed forces of Ukraine as a whole are doing well. And the actions of the Ukrainian armed forces are fundamentally different from what the opposite side is doing.” Krasnozhon went on to emphasize the fact that the war seriously endangers archaeological sites: there are several in Ukraine. One, that of ancient Chersoneso, near Kherson, is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ukraine, soldiers dig trenches and find ancient Roman amphorae

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