Hillforts of the Khazar Era: Bashanta-I and Bashanta-II

Introduction. In 2008 and 2015, two settlements of the Khazar era — referred to as Bashanta-I and Bashanta-II by the name of the locality respectively — were discovered. The joint archaeological expedition of Kalmyk Scientific Center (Russian Academy of Sciences) and Khalikov Institute of Archaeology (Tatarstan Academy of Sciences) headed by Dr. M. Ochir-Goryaeva is systematically exploring the monuments. The comprehensive research efforts involve the use of GIS methods. Analysis of animal bones resulted in five radiocarbon dates that may attest to that Bashanta-I and Bashanta-II are the earliest available sites of the Khazar domain. Further analysis of archaeological materials — Black Sea amphorae — confirms the mentioned radiocarbon-based conclusion. Goals. The paper seeks to review the newly discovered monuments comparing them to each other and other hillforts of the Khazar Khaganate. There have been a few excavation seasons only, and the observations are essentially preliminary. Results. In both the sites, large areas of cultural layers were opened. In Bashanta-I, this revealed remains of a stone building and a 189 meter long wall base composed of massive shell limestone blocks. The wall delineates the outer border of the once inhabited area. The eastern hill of Bashanta-II contains a similar fragmented wall base that served to separate the central part from the rest of the settlement. The wall encircled a number of round half dugout clay-and-wattle buildings and multiple middens. In Bashanta-II, the cultural layer contains (along with amphorae) numerous Saltovo-Mayaki pottery fragments and no traces of roof tiles. While ceramics of Bashanta-I is represented exclusively by amphorae fragments, and no samples of pottery or molded ceramics have been discovered. However, many fragments of roof tiles are observed along the wall base and the building area of Bashanta-I. It is noteworthy that all the roof tiles were brought in from offsite, and are distinguished by high quality, while other Khazar hillforts contain only scarce samples of locally-made tiles. Conclusion. According to G. Afanasiev’s typology, the obtained data make it possible to classify Bashanta-I as a fortress, and Bashanta-II as a fortified settlement.

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