DPR archaeologists find medieval nomadic tribes artefacts

Donetsk, Oct 8 – DAN. Donetsk Republican Museum of Local History’s archaeological expedition has discovered nomadic tribes artefacts dating back to 8th – 9th century A.D. in the Donets Ridge area, senior researcher at the Museum’s Archaeological Sites Protection Department Eduard Kravchenko said at a press briefing at the Donetsk News Agency on Thursday.

“We carried out excavations near the Velikaya Shishkovka village, Shakhtyorsk District, in the Donets Ridge area, from August through early September,” Kravchenko said. “It was a spring and summer campsite used for cattle grazing that dates back to the early Middle Ages, i.e. the late 8th century to the first half of the 9th century. It was probably populated by Proto-Bulgarians.”

Archaeologists dug out numerous fragments of amphorae of Crimea and Taman origin, jugs and pieces of food containers. Overall, four to five boxfuls of such fragments were found, he said.

“Characteristically, the site contained a considerable number of ceramic pieces and utensils and apparently lacked solid structures. All artefacts are of much interest; a study of the campsite shows the way the steppe area of the Donetsk region looked like in the early Middle Ages. The Donets Ridges has been a blank spot until now. Any evidence found in this land captures attention because each unearthed settlement provides a wealth of new information and helps fit together pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of the history of our land,” Kravchenko said.

This archaeological site is very promising for further study, he said.

The Donets Ridge is natural elevation in the south of the East European Plain. It is located in the territory of the DPR, the LPR and Russia. The name first appeared in a paper by mining engineer Yevgraph Kovalevsky in 1827. The researcher was focused on Donbass minerals. The Donets Ridge area amounts to some 23,800 kilometres and its average height varies between 200 and 300 metres.*jk

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