Russian Villages of the 17th-19th Centuries in the Surroundings of the Middle Age Hillfort of Isker

About the author:

Abstract:

The medieval hillfort of Isker, the former capital of the Siberian Khanate of the 17^th-19^th centuries, is a significant archaeological monument, the late history of which was presented in fragmentary literature in the scientific literature. This article aims to fill in this lacune.

In the 17^th century many rural settlements appeared in Isker’s immediate vicinity, in connection with the intensive economic development of the Tobolsk Irtysh. At the same time, the territory of the settlement was often referred to as the “Old Siberia” in written sources. These reasons have led to contemporary studies repeatedly providing erroneous information about the Russian villages that stood on the territory of Isker in the 17^th-19^th centuries.

Using written, cartographic, and archaeological sources, the author has accurately determined the number and names of rural settlements on the territory of the “Old Siberia” natural boundary, as well as their locations and the chronological framework of their existence.

The data obtained allow to reasonably assert that several Russian villages stood quite close to the abandoned hillfort, but its site was not directly inhabited at a later time. Such a neighborhood slightly affected the composition of the archaeological collections of Isker. The results of comparative studies show that it was generally not typical for Russian settlers in the Tobolsk Irtysh region to erect yards on the sites of ancient hillforts. In addition, the work allowed describing the main historical processes that took place in the 17^th-19^th centuries on the territory of the “Old Siberia”.

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