Taganrog lies about 60 kilometres west of Rostov on the Don and some 10 kilometres from where the Don today flows into the Sea of Azov. The settlement at the foot of the Caucasus was founded by Greeks in the 7th century BC and is the easternmost Greek trading post known so far.
Research launched by the head office of the DAI in 2004 has shown that there was an exceptionally brisk exchange of goods at Taganrog, that trading took place, and that resources were shared. Notably the DAI team found not only locally produced pottery but also pottery originating from 40 different places in many parts of Greece. Chemical analysis has shown that Greek and indigenous pottery used clay from the same deposit. New and old inhabitants obviously lived together peaceably. Research at the ancient Greek trading post has additionally supplied new data about the early phase of the Greek colonization of the Black Sea region, the origin of the settlers, and in particular the development of relations between Greeks and indigenous peoples in the Don delta between the middle 7th and the 6th century BC.
Work in an area which probably lay between the settlement site and the harbour of the Greek trading post, as is indicated by numerous ceramic and bone fragments and by evidence of economic activity (traces of metalworking, stone paving) (Photo: DAI Head Office) 
In 2007 a bronze arrowhead was found. It has three blades and originates from the Scythian cultural area. (Photo: DAI Head Office) 
Map of the northern Black Sea region (Map: DAI Eurasia Department)