Oriental Studies (Jul 2021)
The Hillfort of Monchazy ― a Multi-Layered Monument in the Southern Cis-Urals
Abstract
Introduction. Starting from the early Iron Age, the high root bank of the Belaya — downstream from its confluence with the Sim River and virtually to the Ufa Peninsula — was serving a natural barrier that separated the local tribes from nomadic populations who would sporadically penetrate into the left-bank flood pastures. It is along this barrier line that a group of sedentary settlements (hillforts of Okhlebinino I, II, Akberdino I-III, Shipovo, Monchazy) was discovered and identified as those of the Kara-Abyz culture. Supposedly, this advance warning system was still functioning in later periods too, i.e. the pre- and Golden Horde eras, and was somewhat related to antiquities of the Chiyalik archaeological culture. Goals. The work aims to introduce into scientific circulation archaeological materials from the Iron Age and the Late Middle Ages obtained as a result of repeated examinations and explorations at the site of Monchazy located 40 km southeast of Ufa in the lower reaches of the Sim River. The article provides data on the cultural layer of the monument, its defensive structures, introduces analogies to the found metal products, and reveals their cultural and historical aspects. Results. The results obtained indicate the site of the monument was used by both the Kara-Abyz population of the Southern Cis-Urals in the early Iron Age and the late medieval ‘Chiyalik’ residents. The paper also notes that this territory (the middle reaches of the Belaya between the mouths of the Bir and Sim rivers) was a transit area for carriers of Kara-Abyz ceramics with sand admixtures, while carriers of the Chialik culture quite often used fortified promontories of earlier eras (fortified settlements of Kara-Abyz, Bazhino, Ufa I, Ufa II). The publication also provides a broad historical cross-section of the eras (early Iron Age and Late Middle Ages) in relation to the territory on the right bank of the Belaya River. The work also provides data on the archaeological environment near the hillfort of Monchazy. The rather extensive archaeological materials make it possible to conclude as to the difference between ceramic traditions among the population of the Kara-Abyz archaeological culture. It is also noted that nomadic groups of Kipchaks that arrived in the territory of the settlement could have been included in the cultural environment by sedentary carriers of Chiyalik ceramics who professed Islam
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