Opus proprium

• Shoreline: There are conflicting descriptions of the Black Sea shoreline during Classical Antiquity, debate that also extends to the level of the Black Sea during that age. The region of the Danube Delta, although better researched, is subject to various competing theories. The map gives precedence to recent research, but also uses information from older sources to the degree they do not contradict the hypotheses presented in the former. The course of the Danube ignores any regularisation done in modern times (i.e. beginning with 19th century), while the Danube-Black Sea Canal (built in the second part of the 20h century) is not drawn, with the previously existing Carasu lake/marsh system drawn instead. Smaller modern lakes in the Delta and in the alluvial plan of the Danube are also not represented, as their existence during the Classical Antiquity cannot be confirmed. Information about the numerous lagoons/estuaries on the central and southern coast of Scythia Minor is even scarcer when compared to data on the Danube Delta. An (implied) consensus is that all the littoral lagoons communicated directly with sea, however the extent of such communication is generally unspecified (i.e. whether the communication was done through more or less narrow channels, or the modern sand spits separating them from the sea were completely absent). We opted to not represent these spits, excepting the cases where archaeological research confirmed their presence during Classical Antiquity (the case for Lake Tăbăcărie, whose spit is traversed by a Roman-era aqueduct).
  • Sources for the shoreline in Danube Delta-proper:
    • Giosan, Liviu, et al. "Young Danube delta documents stable Black Sea level since the middle Holocene: Morphodynamic, paleogeographic, and archaeological implications." Geology 34.9 (2006): 757-760.
    • Panin, Nicolae. "The Danube Delta. Geomorphology and Holocene Evolution: a Synthesis/Le Delta du Danube. Geomorphologie et Evolution Holocene: une synthese." Géomorphologie: relief, processus, environnement 9.4 (2003): 247-262.
    • Panin, Nicoale; Overmars, Willem. "The Danube Delta evolution during the Holocene: Reconstruction attempt using geomorphological and geological data and existing cartographic documents." Geo-Eco-Marina 18 (2012): 75-104.
    • Romanescu, Gheorghe. "Geoarchaeology of the ancient and medieval Danube Delta: Modeling environmental and historical changes. A review." Quaternary International 293 (2013): 231-244.
  • Sources for the shoreline in the southern part of the Razim-Sinoe lagoon:
    • Vespremeanu-Stroe, Alfred, et al. "The impact of the Late Holocene coastal changes on the rise and decay of the ancient city of Histria (southern Danube delta)." Quaternary International 293 (2013): 245-256.
    • Preoteasa, Luminiţa, et al. "Coastal changes from open coast to present lagoon system in Histria region (Danube Delta)." Journal of Coastal Research 65 (2013): 564-569.
• Settlements: Only settlements for whose location an (early) consensus exists were represented. When consensus appears to have changed, the most recent identification was preferred. Considering that, with some exceptions, there is no clear data about the date of the formation of the settlements, a coarse dating was adopted. The date stands, in most cases, for the first attestation of the name of the settlement, rather than the oldest archaeological remain on the spot, in order to account for possible discontinuity between Greek/Roman and previous levels. Exceptions were made for the few cases in which there is a strong consensus for settlement importance pre-dating first attestation (e.g. Axiopolis).
  • Sources:
    • Wilkes, John J. "The Roman Danube: an archaeological survey." The Journal of Roman Studies 95 (2005): 124-225.
    • Zahariade, Mihail, and Nicolae Gudea. The Fortifications of Lower Moesia: A.D. 86-275. Amsterdam: Adolf M. Hakkert, 1997.
    • Bajenaru, Constantin, Minor fortifications in the Balkan-Danubian area from Diocletian to Justinian. Cluj-Napoca: Mega, 2010.
    • Hansen, Mogens H., and Thomas H. Nielsen, eds. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
    • Torbatov, Sergey. "Procop. De Aedif. IV, 7, 12-14 and the Historical Geography of Moesia Secunda." Archaeologia Bulgarica 4.3 (2000): 58-77.
• Scythian polities: Several Scythian rulers are attested in the southern area of Dobruja around the 2nd century BCE, either succeeding at the head of a single polity (Andrukh), or leading several smaller polities (Irimia). While no definite information exists about the extent of these polit(ies), scholars have attempted to identify their territory, and thus the original area of "Scythia Minor", using archaeological finds and clues in ancient authors.
  • Sources:
    • Andrukh, Svetlana I. Nizhnedunayskaya Skifiya v VI—nachale I v. do n.e. Zaporozhye: Zaporozhskiy gosuniversitet, 1995.
    • Irimia, Mihai. "Despre sciţi şi Sciţia Mică în ultimele secole ale mileniului I a. Chr." Pontica 33-34 (2000-2001): 299-317.
• Limit of Roman Province Scythia: Scythia was established as a distinct Roman province during the time of Diocletian (late 3rd c. CE), however information about the border between the new province and the neighbouring Moesia Secunda can only be inferred from much later literary sources. A major problem is identifying, among modern ruins, some of the cities placed by ancient authors in the border area. The border in this map follows:
  • • Torbatov, Sergey. "Procop. De Aedif. IV, 7, 12-14 and the Historical Geography of Moesia Secunda." Archaeologia Bulgarica 4.3 (2000): 58-77.
• Topographic data: NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM3 v.2) (public domain)
• Rivers, (modern) lakes: Automatically generated based on SRTM3 v.2 and manually corrected using imagery from the NASA Landsat Program (public domain) as reference.

 

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