The late medieval Ran settlement (12th-18th centuries)

The paleo ethnographic detachment of the South Kazakhstan Complex Archaeological Expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR carried out excavations of Ran settlement, located on the northern slopes of the Karatau ridge, in the Kensai gorge, 1.5 km south of the village of Kyzyl-bayrak in the Suzak region.

The Ran settlement (150*110 m) is an oval hill 10 m high in a plan. The remains of stone buildings can be clearly traced throughout the entire surface of the settlement. The main residential complexes were located along the edges of the settlement, closer to the fortress wall, which led to a decrease in the settlement area towards the center. The main gate was in the south wall.

The excavation (625 sq. m.) was laid next to the citadel. The residential complex, which consisted of six rooms and two utility rooms, was completely excavated. Passages interconnect all living rooms. In each of them, except for the 1st and 5th, there was a tandoor-hearth, next to which a plate-shaped open hearth was equipped on the sufa, inside it was very calcined. In front of the tandoor-hearth there was a tashnau covered with a flat stone. All chimneys are led into the corner of the wall by vertical channels. The exit to the street came from room 5. Utility rooms were attached to the northeast side of the living rooms. The entrance to them was independent. Under this complex, four living rooms with two tandoor hearths were discovered. The walls of these rooms are pakhsa. Unfortunately, utility pits dating back to last destroyed the lower buildings.

A trench on the northwestern side of the settlement revealed two parallel walls. The first (outer) wall had a thickness of 1.5 m. The second (inner) wall was located 4.5 m higher than the first one. There was a space of 7 m between them. The first wall stood on the ground, the second on the remains of the pakhsa wall.

The primary material is ceramics, and there are few bone and stone products. On the bottoms of the vessels there are tamga-shaped signs in the form of a cross and parallel dashes. Such tamgas on glazed dishes are pretty standard in this area and are typical for the 16th-17th centuries.

Judging by the materials, the lower layer dates back to the 12th-14th centuries, the middle layer to the 15th-16th centuries, and the last layer to the 17th-18th centuries.