Kipchakovo Hillfort of the Piany Bor Culture in the Forest-Steppe Zone of the Cis-Urals

Abstract

The authors consider the materials of the excavations by S.E. Zubov, carried out on the Kipchakovo hillfort in 2006. Set of artifacts and numerous surface finds from excavations obtained on the territory of the hillfort under the plough allow to conclude that it belongs to the early stage of the Piany Bor culture and unite it with the synchronous Kipchakovo I barrow – subsoil burial ground into one archaeological assemblage. These objects of archaeology demonstrate the complex ethnic and cultural processes of the Piany Bor culture formation, complicated by the migrations of the population. It is concluded that the fortified settlement is single-layered and chronologically connected with the burial ground and their functioning can be determined by time within the II century BC – I century AD. The sizeable area of the hillfort (40 000 m2) in comparison with other Piany Bor fortified settlements and the large size of the burial ground make it possible to suppose that the Kipchakovo hillfort was an administrative and territorial center of the big importance at the turn of the era. Taking into account the small number of archaeological works carried out on the Piany Bor culture settlements in general and the uniqueness of the Kipchakovo archaeological site in particular, the authors consider it reasonable to publish the study of this new archaeological site, the materials of which significantly supplement the picture of the historical and cultural development of the region in the Early Iron Age.

Keywords

• archaeology
• early iron age
• piany bor culture
• kipchakovo hillfort
• ceramics
• clay items