AGRARIAN SYMBOLS IN THE COINAGE OF PANTICAPAEUM
The author considers the problem of the meaning of plough represented on the Panticapaeum bronze coins that date back to 150-125 BC. The subject of the considered coins is supposed to reflect some ancient ritual of sacral ploughing. It must have been connected with worship of Demeter as a patroness of the nature fertility. The coinages of Olbia, Tyras, and Theo- dosia are also under consideration; the iconographical tradition of these cities presents Demeter as either fair lady crowned with a wreath of ripe ears or a “mourning mother” (i.e. the head- covered goddess). The latter falls mainly to the period of mid or late 3rd century BC; still, the “mournful goddess” is also to be seen on the Olbian coins of 150-125 BC, at the same time as Panticapaeum starts mintage of the “plough coins”. The author suggests that the use of all the rustical symbols may be attributed to the reduction of crop yields caused by some climate change of that time.