On the basis of various criteria and chronological data the author describes two local schools in early Byzantine stone carving – Chersonesian and Bosporan, and traces their evolution. The main developing element of early Byzantantine paleography in Chersonesus is alpha, whose crossbar is broken in the 4th and in the 6th–7th centuries and sloping in the late 4th–6th centuries. Two styles coexist on Bosporus in the 6th century: (1) all letter forms are rectangular, alpha having a sloping crossbar; (2) the letter forms preserve curved elements, alpha having a broken crossbar. Later in the 4th century a new koine develops from a combination of those two styles: its letter forms are rectangular, but alpha has a broken crossbar. But at least from the 5th century on a cursive script and a formal script consisting of rounded letter forms only are attested as well in the area. The results of the analysis can be used for dating of new-found inscriptions. In the supplement the author gives a full list of early Byzantine inscriptions from Chersonesus and Bosporus.