Mayatskoye
Mayatskoe, Mayaki
Historical settlement
Mayatskoye is located in Voronezh Oblast
Mayatskoye
Mayatskoye
Mayatskoye is located in Russia
Mayatskoye
Mayatskoye
Coordinates: 50°58′13″N 39°17′34″E / 50.9703°N 39.2929°E / 50.9703; 39.2929
CountryRussia
RegionVoronezh Oblast
DistrictLiskinsky District
Time zoneUTC+3:00

Mayatskoye, also known as Mayatskoe or Mayaki, is a gorodishche (hill fort) and historical settlement located in the Divnogorye museum-reserve area of Liskinsky District in Voronezh Oblast, Russia.[1]: 179  Along with Verkhnii Saltov, it gives its name to the Saltovo-Mayaki culture, which is the main archaeological culture of the Khazars.[2]: 37  Mayatskoye is the northernmost site associated with the Khazars, and was probably near the frontier with Slavic tribes.[3] It is also one of the best-preserved and best-studied Khazar sites.[3]

The Mayatskoye site consists of a hill fort surrounded by a settlement with an adjacent burial ground.[3] The overall settlement area is 30 hectares, of which 6,000 square meters have been excavated.[3] Remains of pottery workshops have been identified in this area.[2]: 30  The fortress itself covers 1.1 hectare, and about 30% of the area enclosed by its walls has been excavated.[3] The walls themselves have been only been excavated in small portions; most of their circuit remains buried under earthen ramparts.[3] The walls were made of chalk blocks, some of which contain runic inscriptions, and reached about 1.5 to 2 meters in height.[3] As for the cemetery area, it covers 3 hectares, of which 2874 square meters (about 10%) have been excavated.[3] At least 150 individual burial sites have been identified.[3]

The settlement existed from the late 8th century onward; its citadel was built in the 9th century.[1]: 179  The settlement was especially important during the second half of the 9th century and the early 10th century.[2]: 30  Among its inhabitants were Alans.[2]: 30  A Common Turkic inscription found at the site refers to the "As country" and "our land of the Six-Savirs", which Gábor Hosszú interprets as a reference to the Khazars ruling over the area between the Don and Dnieper rivers.[1]: 181  The inscription identifies the building as "the mansion of Onagh Tegin", its builder as Ud Didü On, and the author of the inscription as Ineg.[1]: 181 

History of study

The first archaeological findings at Mayatskoye were in 1890.[3] The first comprehensive archaeological excavations were undertaken by A. Milyutin in 1906 and then N. Makarenko in 1908-09.[3] Plowing in the 1960s disturbed part of the site's eastern part but does not appear to have damaged the pits marking the site of old buildings.[3] Further excavations were undertaken by a joint Soviet, Bulgarian, and Hungarian project in 1975 and then 1977-82.[3] The burial ground was discovered in 1975.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hosszú, Gábor (2012). Heritage of Scribes: The Relation of Rovas Scripts to Eurasian Writing Systems. Budapest: Rovas Foundation. ISBN 978-963-88-4374-6. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Brook, Kevin Alan (2018). The Jews of Khazaria. London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9781538103432. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Divnogorye Historical and Cultural Complex". UNESCO. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
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