GREY WARE IN oLBIA AND IN THE SETTLEMENTS oF THE CHERNYAKHoV CULTURE IN THE LoWER BUG REGIoN. CURRENT STATE oF RESEARCH AND PoSSIBILITIES FoR FURTHER INVESTIGATIoNS Valentina V. Krapivina, Erdmute Schultze The inal stage in the history of ancient olbia Pontica is closely linked to the population of the Cher- nyakhov culture. But their mutual relations in the lower Bug region are not quite clear. During the irst three centuries AD some fortiied settlements were situated in the surroundings of olbia as its chora and part of its defensive system. Like olbia itself these settlements were destroyed during the so-called Scythian or Gothic wars in the third century AD. At the end of this century new settlements were foun- ded in this region by settlers of the Chernyakhov culture. The number of the newly founded settlements is twice the number of settlements from the centuries before. Some of these new settlements had even been built on the territory of the former hillforts. However, these new settlers only used the place and its structure, they never rebuilt houses or fortiications (Fig. 1). After the complete destruction of the Goths in 269/270, olbia was restored not earlier than in the 80s of the third century, probably only at the end of the 80s or the beginning of the 90s. Roman coins appeared in olbia in the time of Diocletian (284–305) (Karyškovskij 1968, 178). The territory of the city slightly decreased in comparison with the previous period. In the aftermath of the Gothic defeat only the southern part of the Upper and Lower City were still used, however, the layer of the end of the third to the fourth century AD is not conined to the central height of olbia (Krapivina 2007, 608). In any case, olbia stopped to be the centre of the large rural neighbourhood. Its chora now ex- isted only in the radius of 5–10 kilometres, other territories were occupied by the settlements of the Chernyakhov culture. It needs to be said that the territory of olbia itself was not occupied by the popu- lation of the Chernyakhov culture. Probably, life here had been renewed before the latter returned from their campaigns and settled on the territory of the previous chora of olbia. The investigations of the last two decades revealed a thick layer of the end of the third to the fourth cen- tury AD, which contains at least three building periods (Krapivina/Bujskich 2004, 177 f.). The material cul- ture of olbia of this period shows the adherence to the ancient traditions (Krapivina 1993; 2007, 608–623; Kryžickij et al. 1999, 325–341). That is why the city is not to be determined as the centre of the barbarians (Magomedov 2001, 20; 138; 2007, 47–54) or as one of the barbarian settlements (Zubar’/Son 2007, 188 f.). The character of building ruins of the end of the third and the fourth century AD bears witness to the preservation of a rectangular grid plan within the limits of separate districts of olbia. on the terri- tory of the previous citadel the main street was revealed, which was situated on the upper terrace nearly parallel to the slope (Fig. 2). In the southern part it was broadened and formed a square. There, a bronze stater of Reskuporid V (325/326) was found. Perpendicular to this street, two lanes led to the east. To the north of the previous praetorium there was opened the road of the fourth century AD. It was perpen- dicular to the main street, its width was 7.8–8.8 m, excavated length 15 m (Krapivina 2006, 182). In the southern part of the Lower City a square with a system of drains of different constructions of stone and tiles with wells for accumulation and absorption was revealed, which prevented the lower terrace from looding (Fig. 3,1). Witness to the existence of – at least – one more terrace at this place are the remains of a supporting wall which was situated to the south-east (Krapivina et al. 2002, 153). Grey Ware in olbia and in the Settlements of the Chernyakhov Culture in the Lower Bug Region