A FRAGMENT OF AN ATTIC HELMET FROM THE SETTLEMENT AT LAKE CHOKRAK A.A. MASLENNIKOV and M.YU. TREISTER* During excavations of the ancient settlement at lake Chokrak a fragment of a bronze object worthy of special consideration was found. The settlement explored since 1986 is situated in the elevated central part of a long narrow promontory jutting out into lake Chokrak from the south.' Judging by the geo- logical sediments and results of measurements of changes in the level of the Sea of Azov in antiquity, including the classical time, it was a peninsula in a shallow bay. A number of fresh-water springs rare in these places made the area very attractive for permanent settlements. This is corroborated by numerous finds at the excavation site and in the vicinity of the promontory of flint implements and chips as well as fragments of ancient utensils, first of all amphorae some of which date back to the 6th cent. B.C. The settlement on the promontory probably came into being not earlier than the second quarter of the 5th cent. B.C. and existed for a short time. The monumental structures appeared here in the middle of the next century. A large fortified estate must have existed here since that time. 70 or 80 years later life on the estate died out and was restarted in the era of Mithridates. Most probably, this occurred in the reign of Asunder. Preserving the overall plan of the central building of the estate, the new con- structions form a complex of living and domestic structures adjoining a thick defensive wall (up to 3 m. wide) which traversed the promontory to the E. and W. of the complex. A rampart and a moat preceding it are clearly discernible on aerial photographs. The central building is the most remarkable in all respects. It is a monumental structure covering an area of 420 sq.m. In plan and construction it closely