RESULTS OF STUDIES OF POST-BOKHAI SITES IN PRIMORYE (KOKSHAROVKA-1 SETTLEMENT, KOKSHAROVKA-8 BURIAL COMPLEX)

Abstract

The paper deals with the main results of the studies of two sites – Koksharovka-1 settlement and Koksharovka- 8 burial complex – belonging to the period of medieval archaeology of Primorye in the X–XI centuries, which is poorly studied to date. The chronological range after downfall of the Bohai state and before the formation of the Jurchen Jin Empire remained without the attention of researchers for a long time. The study of these sites allows us to shed light on the post-Bohai period in the history of the region. The main object of excavations at the Koksharovka-1 settlement was an architectural complex located on an artifi cial earthen platform in the northern part of the site and consisting of seven buildings with a heating system. Similar structures, also built on an embankment platform, were partially excavated in the western part of the site. Studies of Koksharovka-8 burial complex have shown that it is directly related to the population of the settlement, which built the architectural ensemble on the northern platform. Geomagnetic studies carried out on the territory of Koksharovka-1 settlement, which revealed various types of layout, as well as archaeological material obtained during the long-term study, made it possible to establish that the site existed for a long time and covered both the Bohai and post-Bohai stages. It has been suggested that the Koksharovka-1 in the post-Bohai period was a major administrative center of a tribal or state entity that had once experienced Bohai infl uence and was largely independent of the Khitans. It is also noted that among the surface fi nds there were fragments of roof tiles, dating from the XIII–XIV centuries. It is not excluded that the settlement could have functioned at a later time.