Excavations in the Otrar oasis

The main works of the South-Kazakhstan complex expedition were carried out on the settlement of Otrar, where layers of the 14th-15th centuries were prepared for research on an area of ​​2 hectares. In small areas, work began at the level of the building horizon of the 15th century.

One of the excavations (1300 sq. m.) is located in the eastern part of the settlement, near the fortress wall, within the streets of the 16th-17th centuries. With a deepening of up to 1.5 m, the layout of the new building horizon has some differences. The houses are characterized by tiny rooms with traces of numerous reconstructions and repairs, especially the heating system. The horizontal masonry of raw brick prevails and is not combined, as in the houses of the 16th-17th centuries. The format of the brick is also changing. However, the layout of the homes of the 15th century similar to the layout of later buildings. Each section consists of two or three rooms: a front room (aivan), a pantry and a living room. Most of the latter is occupied by a sufa with a tandoor built into it. All hearths are equipped with chimneys traditional for the late medieval Otrar in the sufa and inside the walls. The new building horizon is severely disturbed by the overlying layer's pits and wells of spillways (tashnau).

Excavations of early agricultural settlements were carried out in the tract Kok-Mardan on the left bank of the Arys river. Here, on the ancient channels of the river, there are the remains of 14 settlements, of which the central and most significant is Kok-Mardan. The main part of the settlement is an oval mound 15 m high and 3.25 ha in area. The entrance was on the east side. Four streets 1.5–2.0 m wide fanned out from the gate. Walls of individual rooms were traced along the crest of the mound.

At excavation I (575 sq. m) in the northern part of the settlement, a building was unearthed with a hall with ​​115 sq. m, with a rectangular hearth (1.5х0.5 m) in the center, and two building horizons were recorded.

Excavation II (750 sq. m) in the eastern part of the site revealed four complexes of rooms with exits to the street, which started from the entrance and ran for a distance of 10–15 m parallel to the eastern ridge of the mound of the settlement. Each complex included from three to five rooms connected aisles. There are living quarters with hearths such as fireplaces and pantries with khums, clay bins and oval pits with walls plastered with clay. Three building horizons are fixed. One of the third horizons (4.4X4.1 m) has been preserved to a height of 2 m. There is a niche in the northern wall of the room with a rounded upper outline, framed by a fallen roller, which looks like bull horns below. In front of the niche was a square podium (1.5xl.5 m), rising above the surface of the sufa.

Excavation III unearthed some residential and utility rooms. Living quarters are rectangular and square in plan, with an area of ​​15-30 square meters, with a low sufa along the perimeter of the walls with fireplaces and sandals. Some pantries are characterized by large sizes and numerous vessels for storing food. In one of them (35 sq. m.), there were 10 khums, jugs and pots.

During excavations, bone linings of bows and pins with figured heads, iron knives and arrowheads, stone and glass beads were found. The main material - ceramics - allows you to pre-date the discovered complexes of the 3rd-6thcenturies.