Ramparts and Ditches of the Tigashevo Fortified Settlement

Abstract

The authors analyze the materials of the excavations in 1950 on the fortified settlement of the Volga Bolgars, located on the territory of modern Chuvashia and dated to the X–XII centuries. It was the remains of a sanctuary (later a feudal castle). It is found out that the stages of rebuilding of the fortified settlement were not what it was seemed to be to its researchers. At the first stage it was a pagan sanctuary which was not fortified, but during the reconstruction it was surrounded by a shallow moat. At the second stage, connected with adoption of Islam by the Bolgars, the sanctuary was destroyed, the moat was filled up and residential houses were built on the site, around which the fortifications consisting of two lines of ramparts and fosses were constructed. In the inner rampart there are remains of "baked clay" structure which purpose remains unclear. Fortification of this monument requires study at the modern methodical level.

Keywords

• archaeology
• volga bolgaria
• middle ages
• chuvashia
• fortification