Pages: 387-407

This article is in Russian
Ruins of the medieval settlement, one of the names of which in the 14th centuries was known as Lusta, are located on the top of a coastal hill between two rivers in the central part of modern Alushta (Southern coast of Crimea). The excavations were carried out there in 1981 (V. Sidorenko), 1984—1994 (V. Myts) and 1998, 1999, 2001, 2009 (I. Teslenko). On the basis of the archaeological data and evidence of written sources V. Myts has determined the Golden Horde period in the history of the town dating it from the end of the 13th to the 80s of the 14th century. During this period a new urban design of the settlement started to form, and several lines of streets with many houses were constructed. But in less than a century the settlement was burned. Remains of some of the household with traces of the fire have been investigated during the excavations. The materials from one of them are particularly interesting. They include the collection of well-preserved ceramic wares of various functions and origin, among which there are about three dozen of glazed table wares from local and overseas workshops, dating back mainly to the second quarter — last third of the 14th century. Analysis of the ceramic assemblage allows to conclude that connections of “Golden Horde” Lusta with the urban centers of the Golden Horde were rather weak, but at the same time the interest of Genoese merchants to this area was rather significant even before the official transition of the coastal land under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Genoa.

Keywords: Taurica, Alushta, Golden Horde, 14th century, Genoese, pottery

Information about author:

Iryna Teslenko (Kiev, Ukraine). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Archaeology Institute, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Geroev Stalingrada Ave., 12, Kiev, 04210, Ukraine
E-mail: [email protected]