Pages: 118-120

The authors consider views of the researchers who have studied the fortification of the Bolgar city (the capital of Volga Bulgaria in the 9th to 15th cc.) in the second half of the 20th century. Their conclusions about the “pillar structure” towers above the 14th-century rampart and the wooden walls of similar design are refuted by the data of the excavations conducted by them. The new excavation data revealed that the rampart around Bolgar represented an embankment with the crest lacking any traces of additional defensive structures. It is supposed that their absence is due to the loss of fortification traditions during the rule of the Golden Horde (13th and 14th centuries).

Keywords: Golden Horde, Bolgar city, fortification, earthen embankments, rampart excavation technique

Information about authors:

Vladimir Yu. Koval. Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: Dmitriya Ulyanova Str., 19, Moscow, 117036, Russian Federation 
E-mail: [email protected]
Pavel Ye. Rusakov. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Address: Dmitriya Ulyanova Str., 19, Moscow, 117036, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]