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Uch-Bash

Uch-Bash (its earliest name in local toponymy — Chertove Horodyshche) is a prominent multi-layered archaeological site, a large fortified settlement of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, as well as the site of a major military tragedy of the Second World War. It is located on a plateau above the Inkerman Valley on the left bank of the Chorna River at the head of Sevastopol Bay (South-Western Crimea).

Overview

Uch-Bash is the largest and longest-inhabited settlement of the Kyzyl-Koba culture and a key archaeological site of the pre-Scythian and early Scythian period in Crimea. Initial archaeological collections were made in the 1920s by L. M. Solovyov, and the first systematic excavations were carried out in 1952–1953 by S. F. Strzheletsky. New interdisciplinary research began in 2006 under the leadership of the candidate of historical sciences Evelina Kravchenko (Inkerman expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) with the participation of a team of natural scientists (S. Horbanenko, L. Horobets, R. Kroytor, S. Razumov, M. Serheyeva, Y. Yanish), the results of which were published in the monograph "From Bronze to Iron: The Economy of the Inhabitants of the Inkerman Valley" (2016).

At the same time, the Uch-Bash plateau has deep tragic significance in modern history: in its tunnels, an autonomous underground city "Special Combine No. 1" was created in the 1930s, blown up by the Soviet command in June 1942 together with thousands of people. In 2014, after the start of the russian occupation of Crimea, the plateau was taken over by the russian military to deploy a base, which prevented the creation of the archaeological open-air museum (skansen) and memorial planned by Ukraine.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Founding and Ethnic Composition: The settlement emerged at the end of the 12th century BCE (the period of the Trojan Wars and Thracian thalassocracy). Its founders were bearers of Thracian (Eastern) Hallstatt cultures. Later, steppe tribes of the Bilozerka culture from the Lower Dnieper region appeared among the population (horizons Ia-UB and II-UB). After the devastations of the early 7th century BCE, the inhabitants descended into the river valley, where they formed settlements that the Greeks later called Taurians.
  • The Earliest Metallurgical Center: Uch-Bash was one of the very first and most powerful centers of the emergence of iron production in the Northern Black Sea region (from the late 9th century BCE). Its establishment was preceded by a stage of mastering blacksmithing technologies and copper-based alloys (see Metallurgy and Metalworking of the Final Bronze), while the ironworking technology itself was adopted in its developed form from the Western Caucasus.
  • Local Resource Base: The emergence of the metallurgical center was facilitated by rich deposits of hematite ores in the limestones of Chertova Balka (iron content above 50% without harmful phosphorus admixtures) and the presence of high-quality bentonite refractory clay.
  • Satellite Settlements: Uch-Bash controlled the ford across the Chorna River through a satellite settlement — Sakharna Golovka Settlement on the slope of the mountain of the same name on the opposite bank. The existence of a Uch-Bash satellite settlement in Balaklava is also suggested.
  • Military Assaults and Fortification: Around the mid-8th century BCE, amid the threat from the early nomadic Cimmerians (Novocherkassk group), defensive walls with towers were hastily erected at Uch-Bash. The storming of the fortress ended with its fall and fire, which is recorded in the stratigraphy by finds of arrowheads, broken weapons, and hacked horse skulls.
  • Complex Paleoeconomy:
  • Agriculture: long-term cultivation of hulled barley, free-threshing and emmer wheat, as well as rye; use of flint sickle inserts and disc-bow drills.
  • Animal Husbandry: dominance of small cattle (over 55% of the domestic herd), cattle (20%), pigs and horses; hunting of deer, roe deer, and wild boar.
  • Marine Fishing: seasonal catching of mullet (golden grey mullet and leaping mullet) with set nets in Sevastopol Bay.
  • Crafts: operation of a developed bone-carving workshop, production of casting molds from Inkerman limestone, pottery production.
  • Special Combine No. 1 and the 1942 Tragedy: In the tunnels under Uch-Bash, an autonomous underground city was set up in the 1930s: a hospital, an ammunition factory, a kindergarten, and warehouses of the Black Sea Fleet. On 28 June 1942, during the surrender of Sevastopol, by order from Moscow and the directive of Admiral F. S. Oktyabrsky, the tunnels were blown up without evacuating people. From several hundred to several thousand people were buried alive under the rubble (the "cursed Shampany").
  • Repression of Researchers: The Soviet authorities persecuted scholars who studied the region. In the 1950s, the archaeologist Oleksandr Takhtay was repressed on charges of "treason to the Motherland", and L. Solovyov was transferred to Sukhumi. S. Strzheletsky sealed off the Uch-Bash excavations because the obtained materials evidenced the developed agriculture and crafts of the local inhabitants, which contradicted the Marxist-Leninist doctrines about the "primitive Taurians".
  • Current Status and Occupation: The site has the status of a national heritage object of Ukraine (protection No. 270011-Н, Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 928 of 03.09.2009). In 2014, the russian occupation forces deployed a military base on the plateau.