In 2013-2014 the East Crimean Expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of RAS conducted archaeological excavations of the cinder mound in the Eastern Crimea. The mound is about 1.3 meter high with a circular base of about 20 meters in diameter. The mound consists primarily of dark and light grey layers of ash which contains crushed and burnt animal bones, amphora fragments, red slip pottery and hand molded vessels. The artifacts that had been used in sacred rituals are of particular interest: votive cakes, some primitive terracotta figurines, fragments of the incense burners and lamps, weaver sinkers, whorls. The article investigates the specific group of votive offerings - spinning and weaving tools, reconstructs the role of such tools in religious rituals of the rural sanctuary and the world outlook of rural inhabitants of the Azov coast in late antiquity.
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