September 2, 2005 - When in the 2nd half of the 7th century BC the Greeks began to settle at the coasts of the Black Sea, they came also until the Don-Delta. Traces of the first Greek settlement (late 7th-late 6th/early 5th centuries BC) have been conserved in Taganrog near the modern Don-Delta.

The excavations which began in 2004 have one goal: collecting information on the topography, the date and the contacts between Greeks and indigenous Scythian peoples after the foundation of the Taganrog settlement. So far known are over 20,000 fragments of East Greek pottery. They have been found since the thirties of the last century on the coast of Taganrog. Therefore it is sure that one part of this settlement is situated under the Azov Sea. The excavations and drills (until a depth of about 7 meters) in the coast zone near the modern city park of Taganrog made it clear that there are traces of the Greek presence also under the ground near the coast. Due to our ongoing excavations we can prove that there is a cultural horizon with Greek pottery at the depth of about 4-5 Meters, and that an important part of the settlement has been situated on the plateau where also Peter I The Great founded Taganrog.

Cooperation partners are the Pedagogical University of Rostov on Don (Prof. Victor Kopylov), the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Dr. Vladimir Kuznetsov), the Don-Archaeological Society (Dr. Arthur L. Isakov) and the German Archaeological Institute (Secretary General PD Dr. Ortwin Dally).

Press-release courtesy of PD Dr. Ortwin Dally, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut