Pages: 289-295

Now one of the main directions of the national historical science is a detailed study of the history of individual regions, suburbs, territories of the Russian-Horde border. Some of the areas are of particular interest to any student of the Russian-Golden Horde borderlands: these areas can be called buffer zones. They are described by travelers, recorded in chronicles and confirmed by archaeological materials. The Chuvash-Mari area of the Volga region played the role of such “buffer zone” at the Russian-Golden Horde border in 14th—15th centuries. The archaeological material accumulated to date (the results of exploration and excavations in the territory of the Mari-Chuvash Volga region) not only confirms the process of expanding the territory of the influence of the Golden Horde state over the studied territory, but also allows us to consistently trace this process, highlighting several conventional regions with concentrations of archaeological sites dated by the studied period. In this regard, the purpose of the article is to consider the presence of buffer zones at the Russian — Golden Horde border in the Mari-Chuvash Volga region on the basis of archaeological data.

Keywords: Mari-Chuvash area of the Volga region, topography, landscape, fortified settlement, ceramics, buffer zones, Russian-Golden Horde borderlands

Information about author:

Elena Vorobeva. Candidate of Historical Sciences. Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University. Kremlyovskaya St., 18, Kazan, 420008, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]
Mikhail Fedulov. Chuvash State University named after I. N. Ulyanov. Moskovsky Ave., 15, Cheboksary, 428015, Russian Federation.
E-mail: [email protected]