Research in Dzhetyasar tract

The detachment of the Khorezm expedition of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences resumed work in the lower reaches of the Syr Darya at the settlement of Dzhetyasar 12. The lower layers of the monument were investigated, for which separate rooms and residential sections were deepened in the western and eastern excavations of the upper platform and in the central meridional corridor. In the northern and northwestern areas excavated rooms and sections of the shooting corridor, as well as early buildings under the north tower. As a result, 20 rooms belonging to different building horizons (2-5), a large courtyard, and rooms of the lower building tier, the layout of which is sharply different from the residential buildings of the overlying horizons, were unearthed.

Initially, the fortress had an irregularly rectangular shape in plan (the corners were rounded). Along the fortress wall with loopholes, a defensive corridor adjoined living quarters and a large courtyard. A platform was built under the premises inside the fortress walls, taking into account the future layout. Its thickness in different areas varies from 2.5 to 8.2 m. All rooms of the lower horizon had thick walls, which suggests the existence of vaulted ceilings. The passages between the rooms were decorated with curved bricks. From the side of the courtyard, along the walls, and elevation was arranged, protected by a canopy. The entrance was on the north side of the fortress. Sometime after the construction of the fortress, masonry was built in the corridors along the bypass walls, tightly closing the loopholes, and several towers were added outside. At the same time, some rooms inside the fortress were partially re-planned, some passages were closed, some of the walls were cut almost to the ground, while others were erected.     

Then the settlement was subjected to a military invasion, as evidenced by powerful layers of fire. Later, after a significant break, the fortress was again sheathed but radically rebuilt: on the ruined and rubbled premises of the lower horizon, numerous residential sections of the same type were built. The inner space of the high central platform was divided in half by a central meridional corridor with small corridors extending from it at right angles, where passages from two and three-room residential sections led. The functions of each room within the section are defined, and the interior of the main living area is extremely stable. At the same time, one of the sections was used as a public (cult?) space. Most of it was occupied by a round sufa, and there was a deep hearth in the center. At the same time, a further complication of the fortification took place: sections of shooting corridors were built between the towers, and the entrance was moved to the western part of the fortress and flanked by two towers.

In the necropolis to the east and northeast of the settlement, 12 burial mounds with eroded mounds were excavated. According to the surviving ring ditches, which are not closed from the south, the diameter of the mounds is determined within 6-14 m. In ten graves in the eastern wall, small niches were cleared, where vessels and bones of animals (most often rams) were found, and in two brooms, in addition to niches, ditches along the perimeter, the pits buried lay on reed mats and were covered by them. Bark litter was less common. The position of the buried is elongated on the back, the orientation is northern (with seasonal deviations). Most of the graves have been robbed. Among the surviving inventory, we note pieces of chalk, bronze plaques, and mirrors with a small petiole and rim, iron buckles and knives, bone linings for bows, stone, bone, and glass beads. Pottery from the burials finds analogies in the materials of Dzhetyasar 12. One burial with the same orientation is distinguished by the absence of food and any bedding. The deceased is laid on his right side, with arms bent at the elbows (the hands were under the head). There was neither a niche nor bedding in another grave with a northern orientation, and the buried lay stretched out on his back. A molded pot-shaped vessel and a bronze mirror with a socket were found.