Excavations of residential estates at the Talgar settlement

The Talgar detachment of Semirechye of the expedition of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR continued excavations of residential estates located along the street that crossed Talgar from south to north. The remains of two estates (IV and V) with a total area of ​​594 sq. m, consisting of a residential part and a yard with outbuildings. The residential complex of the estate IV included four rooms. In one, there was a tandoor in the sufa, in the other, an earthen hearth, from which a calcined spot in the shape of a horseshoe was preserved on the floor. The rest of the premises served as storerooms-granaries. These are large (36-40 sq. m.) rooms, divided into compartments by partitions 25-30 to 50-60 cm thick. In addition, walls of a different design were not previously encountered. A thin (4-6) layer of coarse river sand with pebbles was poured onto the clay or stone base of the steppe. Then the edges were laid out with small, approximately the same size stones, and the space between them was filled with wood. All this was fastened with a solution of clay. In two cases, fragments of rather well-preserved logs 13x7 and 15x12 cm in diameter were cleared away. Walls with wooden filling are marked only inside the storage rooms. They separated them from the rest of the estate. There was a cattle complex in the yard - two large pens for small cattle with feeders and a stall for large animals with a manger. In the southwestern part of the yard, a detached residential building measuring 5.5x4.0 m was discovered with a thin partition that isolated the sufa with the tandoor. The exit from this house led to the courtyard.

In contrast to estates I-III, Estates IV and V are oriented with a long axis along the north-south line, with a courtyard located in their northern part and housing in the southern part. The exit from estate IV in the western wall led to a street parallel to the river bank. The estate V has a G-shape in plan and consists of a residential part and a yard. It includes a room with a tandoor, a utility room with storage compartments, and a long corridor-shaped (12x1.2-1.5 m) room, the functional purpose of which could not be determined. As in estate IV, a dwelling with a steam tandoor has been cleared in the southwestern corner of the yard. Excavations of residential estates adjoining it will make it possible to reveal where and how the exit from estate V was carried out.

Analysis of the osteological material obtained during the excavations indicates that the inhabitants kept horses, camels, donkeys, cows, sheep and goats. The bones of deer, badger, bald, wolf were also found, which indicates occupations by crafts. The presence of large granary premises testifies to the region's traditional pastoral and agricultural way of life. A collection of non-irrigated ceramics has been assembled: kitchen boilers, table and water-bearing jugs, bowls, mortars, khums. Among the finds, there are stone grain grinders, fragments of pestles, sharpeners, iron items (knives, hooks, horseshoes, buckles and linings), pieces of glass vessels. The material allows us to date the estates of the 10th-12th centuries.