Explorations at the Shymkent site

A detachment of the Institute "Kazproekt Restoration" of the Ministry of Culture of the Kazakh SSR began protection work at the citadel of the settlement of Chimkent. The citadel is a rectangular (180x120 m) mound protected on three sides by sheer ledges 20-30 m high. A defensive wall and six towers can be traced along the perimeter. In the northwestern part of the citadel, there is a platform (50 x 40 m) 6-7 m high, conventionally called the "Kokand fortress."

Excavation 1 (200 sq. m) was laid in the western part of the citadel, stretched from north to south. A house (17x9 m) consisting of four rooms with an aivan was found. In the three main rooms along the perimeter at floor level, wooden beams (17x16.5 cm) are embedded in the walls, and a whole stone millstone (diameter 78 cm) is embedded in the threshold of the aivan. "Kitchen" - a room with a tandoor - adjoins the house on the east side. The walls of the house (width 75-80 cm) are made of rectangular mud bricks (32x17x5 cm). The ceramic complex makes it possible to date the house to the end of the 18th century - the beginning of the 19th century.

Excavation 2 (300 sq. m) is extended from east to west. Excavated five houses, mostly three-room. The two houses had a common yard with four garbage pits. The doorways of the rest of the houses are oriented towards the narrow streets revealed around the entire block. As a rule, the thresholds of houses are lined with burnt bricks or stone. In winter rooms there are tandoors (diameter 60-65 cm), embedded in a sufa 40-45 cm high. Tandoors are devoid of fireboxes and chimneys, which is typical for residential areas of the pre-Mongolian period. The ceramic material of the excavation dates back to the 16th-17th centuries.