MOSCOW, July 9 A lost ancient settlement over 2,200 years old was found near Tula by Russian archaeologists of the Kulikovo Field museum-reserve. Accurate dating of the archaeological monument of the Early Iron Age became possible thanks to the found antique copper obol. During exploration of the site, volunteer of the Tula archaeological expedition Yuri Petrov determined the dating of the coin: minted in Panticapaeum in 275-245 BC (copper alloy, weight — 1.98 grams).
The discovered ancient settlement is located on the territory of Bolshaya Tula, on the right bank of the Sukhaya Voronka River, not far from the village of Strukovo. The monument is single-layer. According to archaeologists, life on it occurred in a short period of time — in the 4th-3rd centuries BC.
The fortification itself is small (55×25 m), but has impressive fortifications, which are well preserved after almost 2500 years: on the field side the fortification is protected by three ramparts and three ditches, and the same number on the river side. The height of the ramparts reaches 2 meters, and the depth of the ditches is up to 1.5 meters. Behind the ramparts there was a large settlement, which forms a single archaeological complex.
“Representatives of the Yukhnovskaya culture lived there — one of those that existed in the early Iron Age in the forest zone of the European part of Russia,” noted Evgeny Stolyarov, candidate of historical sciences, head of the archaeological research department of the Kulikovo Pole State Museum-Reserve, adding that The area of settlement of the Yukhnovskaya culture included large areas of the Podesenye, Kursk Poseimye and the right bank of the Upper Oka.
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In response to the correspondent’s question about who the residents of the ancient settlement had to defend against, the scientist suggested that the main danger to them was their neighbors.
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“You shouldn’t think that they were attacked by some steppe tribes from the south… In those days there was neither gold nor silver. The main wealth was people and livestock. The inhabitants of the settlement defended themselves from their own fellow tribesmen, who could attack at any moment, take away livestock or, for example, steal a non-ferrous metal craftsman,” the scientist explained.
According to him, the settlement itself, fortified from all sides sides, played the role of a refuge and a kind of religious place where the most valuable things were kept. “The main life of people took place outside the ramparts, where a large settlement was located,” added the archaeologist.
According to his estimates, the antiquities of this time have not yet been studied enough, but the found valuable archeological monument opens previously unknown pages of the history of the Tula region. Archaeologists plan to conduct large-scale research at the Strukovo site.
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