The Tsymlyansk complex of Khazar time on the Lower Don

• Main Author: Flyorov Valerij S.
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: TAS 2015-03-01
• Series: Povolžskaâ Arheologiâ
• Subjects: the Lower Don; the Khazar Kaganate; 8th c.; Saltovo-Mayatskaya culture; Tsimlyansky square; pyramidal barrow; barrow with stones; horse cheek-bit; arrow tips.
• Online Access: http://archaeologie.pro/en/archive/11/188/

The two series of objects that arrived at the Tsymlyansk city museum (Rostov oblast, Russia) in 2013 are published. The first group comes from a roughly square construction of still unclear purpose covering an area of 130×130 m, which is hardly visible on the surface (conventionally named “Tsimlyansky square” or “Tsimlyanky kvadrat”). The group consists of about 170 items, including 60–70 horse cheek-bits and their fragments. Nearby, a well-known barrow in the form of truncated pyramid named (Dark-) Blue Mound is situated, covering an area of 95×100 m, over 10 m in height. Its base is encircled by a trench, square in plane. The barrow has not been excavated, its date remaining undetermined. The relation between the barrow and the published complex is presumable. The finds from the “Tsimlyansky square” show analogy with those from the Bolshaya Orlovka mound site belonging to the Saltovo-Mayatskaya culture and dated by the early-8th c. The second group of the objects includes trilobate arrowheads that come from the remains of the ploughed burial mound with traces of a demolished stone construction (barrow with stones). The items also belong to the Saltovo-Mayatskaya culture and are presumably dated by the late-8th – early-9th cc.