ON THE BULGARIAN FORTIFICATION OF THE X–XI CENTURIES ON THE TERRITORY OF THE KAMA RIVER REGION

Abstract

The article is devoted to some issues of fortifi cation of the settlements of one of the main regions that were part of the Bulgarian state, which are the forest-steppe territories located in the left bank of the Volga and Kama rivers. It is here that one of the earliest monuments of the Bulgars, dating from the 10th century, is located. Archaeological studies of the Bulgarian fortifi ed settlements and their defensive structures make it possible to trace the development of fortifi cation in the territory of the Volga Bulgaria for several centuries. Quite "simple" objects of defense of the initial period of the history of the formation of this state are the basis for subsequent more powerful construction, built of wood and earth. Despite the small number of early fortifi cation monuments known to date, we have an idea of the main types of defensive structures of this time. In addition to the fortifi ed settlements themselves, this area was also protected by a "natural fortifi cation", for example, forests that existed in antiquity and were used for defense for several centuries, until the XVII–XVIII centuries.