The Herakleian peninsula or the Minor Khersonesos of Strabon is a plain territory in the South Western Crimea which served as the hinterland of the Greek city of Khersonesos Taurike. In ancient times this territory, divided up into plots and cultivated, constituted the agrarian base of the city-state. The ruins of farms had attracted the attention of scholars as early as the 18th and 19th centuries. Systematic archaeological excavations began in 1876. As a result a large amount of material was found revealing a complex political and agrarian network. An archaeological mission was set up in 1974; it was constituted by archaeologists from the Moscow State University and other Institutes. The expedition started working on the agrarian territory of Khersonesos Taurike and its main task was to draught a complete plan of the divisions of the Herakleian Peninsula as well as to find out the actual number of country estates contained within the area.