Hillfort of Bashanta-I from the Khazar Era: Exploring the Northern Wall Base

Introduction. The investigation of Bashanta-I hillfort is at its initial stage nowadays. The site has witnessed only three exploration seasons (2010, 2015 and 2018). The utmost drought of 2018 made it possible to perform excavations in the estuary (liman) bed. Dig 4 and twelve shovel test pits revealed a 189 meter long wall base consisting of three to four layers of shelly limestone. The traceable part is approximately two thirds of the supposed length of the northern wall base. Goals. The article introduces results of investigation works done along the baseline of the northern wall on the site of Bashanta-I dated to the Khazar era. Materials and methods. Since 2015 the joint archaeological expedition of Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS) and Khalikov Institute of Archaeology (Tatarstan Academy of Sciences) has been comprehensively exploring Bashanta-I and Bashanta-II hillforts with the aid of GIS methods. The five obtained radiocarbon dates of animal bones suggest that Bashanta-I and Bashanta-II are earliest available archaeological sites of the Khazar Khaganate. Analysis of large scale materials — Black Sea type amphorae — confirm the results of radiocarbon dating. The hillfort of Bashanta-I was investigated for geophysical parameters, special attention was paid to technological and typological properties of amphora ceramics. Dig 2 in the central part of the shore (and specifically the cape proper) proved to contain traces of a stone building sized 14х16 m. In its northeastern corner there was discovered a stone with a tamga. The multiple finds from the dig comprise hewn stones, amphora fragments, roof tiles, plaster and animal bones. Results. The identified part of the northern wall base in Bashanta-I attests to that the latter is actually another strong hillfort (Type 2) of the Khazar Khaganate in the steppe zone, while its gauffre-shaped wall on the stone base is unique and distinguishes it from all geometrically shaped settlements across the Don agglomeration of the Khazar era.

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