ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF TAURICA-CRIMEA IN THE GOLDEN HORDE TIME: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

Abstract

The Armenian antiquities of Taurica-Crimea are considered as a complex of archaeological sites, including material evidence of the presence of Armenians on the peninsula in the Golden Horde period (middle of the XIII–XV century). The problem of their identifi cation from the array of medieval archeological sites of the peninsula is connected with the detection of so-called "ethnic markers" in the studied complexes – objects of epigraphy, architecture, decoration. At the same time, in archaeological terms, the material heritage of the Armenians in Crimea in the XIV–XV centuries includes cultural strata and construction the remains of ancient cities, villages, monasteries and burial grounds. The lower chronological boundary of the functioning of the sites dates back to the first half of the XIV century, and the upper one in most cases is determined by the XVI–XVIII centuries, that is due to the fact that the Armenian community continued to exist on the peninsula already in the Ottoman period.

Keywords

• archaeological sites
• taurica-crimea
• armenian antiquities
• golden horde time
• ethnic-cultural attribution
• chronology