Glass Beads from Burial and Household Contexts of the Bilsk Hillfort in the Dnipro Forest-Steppe (Late 7th to 4th Century BC)

Bilsk hillfort (or gorodishche in Ukrainian) is the largest fortified settlement of the Early Iron Age in Eastern Europe. Long-term excavations made it possible to determine that it was a powerful industrial, political, religious, and trade center of the forest-steppe populations. Thanks to trade relations with the ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region, wine in amphorae, ceremonial tableware, and glassware came to the settlement. The latter were mainly represented by beads of various shapes and ornaments. In this article, for the first time, 61 unique (or 135, taking similar ones into account) glass beads found during the excavations at the Bilsk hillfort are analyzed. To establish their chronology and the assortment of receipts in the different periods of the settlement’s existence, only beads from burials and various economic complexes with reliable dating were considered. It was established that glass beads reached the Bilsk settlement through Greek-mediated exchange networks from the last quarter of the 7th century BC. Their arrival continued continuously until the end of the 4th century BC, that is, during the entire Scythian period of the fortified settlement’s existence. The beads most likely reached Bilsk through exchange networks linking the settlement with the Greek cities of the Northern Black Sea region. Three overland routes may have been involved: the Olbian, Muravsky and Chersonesan routes. Evidence from Greek ceramics and other Mediterranean or Olbian imports suggests that the Olbian route was probably the dominant channel.