Religious life at the Sirenevaya bay settlement

Several structures were uncovered near the Sirenevaya Bay settlement; theirconstituent parts and material they were made of provide an opportunity to trace development of religious concepts of its inhabitants in the period between the 3rd century BCand the 6th century AD. A small hill where remains of a sanctuary, which is a small areaenclosed by a wall, were uncovered is located 250 km south-west of the settlement. Twostone altars, a small building (presumably, a temple) and a crevice in the north-easternpart of the hill were documented within the sacred enclosure. These structures along witha large collection of terracotta statuettes suggest a broad range of religious rituals performed here to revere several deities (Demeter, Kore-Persephone, Attis, the Dioscuri?).The sanctuary ceased to exist in the 3rd century AD and the center of religious life movedto a site located in the south-eastern part of the settlement, which was operational up tothe 6th century AD and where now there is a cinder heap. The collection of votive itemsretrieved from the mound suggests that the inhabitants of the Sirenevaya Bay settlementmaintained the tradition of worshiping the gods from the Hellenistic pantheon (ApolloMedicus, Asclepius, and Persephone).