New research in the city of Bytygay

Abstract

The article presents the preliminary results of the archaeological excavations of the medieval settlement of Bytygay, carried out in the field season of 2021. The settlement is located on the left bank of the Nura River, 1 km east of the village of Korgalzhin, Korgalzhinsky district, Akmola region. Two excavations were laid on the territory of the monument. The area of the first excavation was 200 m², the area of the second – 120 m². The production hall has been fully investigated, which includes two furnaces for melting glaze, a kiln for firing bricks, as well as a facility for preliminary drying of raw bricks. The paper gives the main characteristics of the fixed objects and building materials. As a result of the archaeological excavations of the production workshop, six types of fired bricks were revealed, one type with an ornament without glaze and one type ornamented, covered with glaze. The research materials show the level of development of urban culture in the Tengiz-Korgalzhin region and indicate that Bytygay, along with other famous medieval settlements, was an administrative and commercial center located at the intersection of caravan routes. The production workshop for the manufacture and firing of bricks and architectural and finishing materials is dated presumably by 14th‑15th centuries.