Excavations of the Kuyruktobe settlement

A detachment of the South Kazakhstan expedition of the Institute of History, Archeology, and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR explored the ancient Kuyruktobe settlement, 6 km northeast of Otrar. The settlement consists of a citadel, shakhristan and rabad and covers an area of ​​25 hectares.

Excavations in shakhristan (excavations I, II) uncovered urban development areas. The city quarter of the first half of the 12th century has been completely excavated. and partially two quarters in the layers of the 9th-10th centuries. In the quarter of the first half of the 12th century six households were allocated, united by a street 22 m long, connecting two main roads of the city. The total area of ​​the quarter is about 400 square m. In earlier quarters, the same principle of combining a group of households with an intra-quarter street was noted. Deaf buildings and sidewalls of the outermost houses served as their boundaries. Houses - two and three-room, up to 50 square meters. m. In one case, a hearth with a canal was noted. Subsequently, tandoors became widespread in the Otrar oasis.

The last period of the habitation of shakhristan is represented by a series of retreats and household pits, where there are terracottas in the mass of ceramic material. In one of the pits of the 12th century, a figure of a bear was found, in others - figures of rams, birds, zoomorphic creatures.

Excavations on the citadel revealed that it was based on a monumental building of the castle type (30x30 m). Its walls are built using the technique of combined masonry of pakhsa blocks and bricks. Part of the premises has been cleared along the lower construction horizon marked traces of an intense fire. Pieces of carved wood depicting rosettes and geometric ornaments were found on the floor in a layer of rubble and ash. The construction of the citadel dates back to the 6th-7th centuries. In the 11th-12th centuries, pottery workshops were located on the citadel. They combine industrial and residential premises. In the workshops, in addition to pottery kilns, there were storage rooms for clay, bins for various components of pottery production, and areas for storing finished products.