Eminak: Scientific Quarterly Journal

Abstract

The basis of the collection of the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine was the objects of the State Historical Museum of the Ukrainian SSR. Among them were many items from the collection of the famous Kyiv collectors of antiquities B.I. and V.N. Khanenko. Of course, as in most of the pre-revolutionary collections, there were also findings in that collection, presumably from the excavations of Olbia. They were published in 1907 by Khanenko married couple in the catalog of the collection and in the publication attention was focused just on the Olbia origin of those items.

Some of those materials were lost in the vortex of events with which the 20th century was so rich, the location of others were unknown for a long time. Perhaps that is why, despite the increased interest in ancient jewelry art in recent years and the active publishing of studies devoted to it, these things remained «in the shadow».

In the museum’s collection we have so far identified 42 pieces of jewelry related to this collection. These are earrings of different types and sewn-on plaques.

In the case of Khanenko «Olbia» gold, we are dealing with a fairly typical for the beginning of the 20th century «hodgepodge», happening at different times and multicultural. It has a striking chronological framework – from the 4th century BC until the Middle Ages. The place where the majority of the jewelry was found is likely to remain unknown forever, or it was «Olbia» with a question mark.

Definitely, the earring in the form of a stylized shell can be ascribed to the Olbia group of items – the only and very close analog to it was found during the excavations of Olbia. On the basis of the same assumptions, the plaques in the form of sirens are probably of Olbia origin as well. These objects could have been found during the illegal excavations of the Olbia necropolis in the early 20th century and sold to collectors. Further technological comparative analysis of the objects from Khanenko collection and passport findings will help to consider this issue more particularly.

Also, before conducting a detailed technical analysis, the question remains open about the originality of certain objects, especially those that have no analogs and parallels among antiquities.