The 1st Palasa-Syrt fortified settlement in Southern Dagestan

The 1st Palasa-syrt settlement with an area of one hectare is 20 km south ofDerbent. The excavations revealed occupation layers up to 1.5 m thick reflecting threestages of the site occupation. The first period is dated to the middle (the first half) of the4th-mid-5th centuries. Fortifications in the form of two ditches date back to this period. Thefortified settlement played the role of a political center, which, probably, functioned asa residence of the tribal union chieftain of the Maskut country and/or a cult center of thisunion. The second period coincides with the period when Sasanian Iran built a mud-brickdefensive system in Derbent in 440s and constructed the city of Shakhriston-i Yazdegerd(Belindzhi fortified settlement (Torpakh-kala)). The Palasa-Syrt burial ground was notused anymore, probably, because Iran had squeezed out the Maskut-Alan populationfrom the area south of Derbent. The fortified settlement was reconstructed into a fortressthat formed part of a defensive system built in the frontier areas of the Sasanian state.During the 3rd period the fortification site was turned into a residential site. The upperchronological boundary of the period, which is the first half of the 7th century, correspondsto the time when Arabs conquered Southern Dagestan in 740s-750s.