The displayed miniature cup was discovered during excavations at the Bolshoi Kastel Estate. It was located in the northwestern Crimea, near the Bolshoi Kastel Bay. The estate was founded by the natives of Chersonesus in the last third of the 4th century BCE. In the 2nd century BCE, it passed into the hands of the Scythians. The gray clay pottery produced in the Northwestern Black Sea region in the first half of the 1st century CE can be divided into different chronological and ethnocultural groups. The first group includes products from ancient pottery workshops in Tyras and Olbia. The second group consists of gray clay ceramics produced by the Late Scythians who inhabited the outskirts of large cities. Evidently, these potters worked in rural settlements.
Cups are quite rare and are not typical of the pottery that was used in cities. Such vessels were made for ritual purposes. They were used in necropolises — either for placing food and drinks in the burials or as burial urns. Most of such cups resembled small pots.
The surface finishing of ceramic vessels was achieved through polishing. The outer surfaces of the vessels, including the rim and its inner edge, were polished. The potter’s wheel was not used for this technique. The width of the polishing instrument’s working part ranged from one and a half to two millimeters. Occasionally, such vessels were covered with a dark liquid clay before being polished. This type of pottery is sometimes found in necropolis burials. Over many years of excavations at the Panskoye 1 settlement, eight artifacts of this type were found. Half of the vessels are cooking pots. According to excavation materials, they were widely used by the inhabitants of the settlement. Sometimes, impressions left by the maker’s thumbs can be seen along the rim. In some cases, the shoulders are decorated with pinholes. In other cases, there are no decorations. Two of the found cups resemble the shape of pots. The first cup is very large, while the second one is smaller and is similar to the displayed vessel. It has a height of only six centimeters and has a small handle.
