Recent studies of Atsanguars in the Aibga range

The paper presents results of archaeological reconnaissance of the North Caucasus archaeological expedition in the alpine areas of the Aibga Range (the Adler district of the Krasnodar region) in 2015 in the course of which 14 sites of the atsanguar type were examined such as Kamennyy Stolb (Stone Pillar) I-VII, Chernaya Piramida (Black Pyramid) I-IV, VII-IX. The paper contains brief descriptions of the sites and concludes that the sites can be divided into four types based on their size and design characteristics. The groups of atsanguars known as «Stone Pillar I» and «Black Pyramid I» are the most spectacular architectural ensembles. Archaeological bores drilled at the site yielded small but impressive ceramic artifacts, which, in terms of their quality and quantity, are similar to the finds at atsanguars examined earlier in Abkhazia and dated, in the view of researchers, to the second half of 1000 BC.