Bolgar fortifications in the 14th century

The city of Bolgar existed in the period between the 10th and the 15th centuries. It reached its maximum size in the 14th century and in the period between 1359 and 1367 it was surrounded with a rampart and a ditch. These fortifications were excavated in 1946, 1953, 1967 and then in 2014-2015. It is only the most recent studies that provided an opportunity to put aside theoretical reconstructions of the Bolgar defensive constructions earlier described as identical to medieval Russian constructions (i. e. wood and earth walls). It was found that the Bolgar defense was based on a rampart + ditch system; traces of a light wooden fence (in the form of postholes) have been preserved along the rampart crest in some places. The fortress had no towers. The reason for such unusual system of defense is that it was intended to halt an army of mounted steppe warriors which posed the biggest danger.