First results of excavations at a fortified settlement of the daurian type in the Western Amur Region

In 2021, the team from the Center for Preservation of Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Amur Region and Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences began archaeological excavations in a fortified settlement of the Daurian type in the vicinity of the village of Sergeevka in Blagoveshchensky District of Amur Region. According to archaeological passport, the site has the name “Sergeevka, fortified settlement-4.” It consists of two separate structures of similar shapes but different sizes connected by a rampart. Excavations at this site were determined by the lack of information about the practical purpose of archeological sites of this type, which today occur only in the Western Amur region on the left bank of the Amur River. The study covered a small part of the smaller structure at the site, including the corner tower, as well as rampart and ditches, which framed the tower. The total excavation area was 222 m2. As a result of the works, stratigraphy of the site was obtained, which makes it possible to establish the method of building the fortifications. It consisted of digging ditches and building ramparts along rectangular contour with angular protrusions. Simultaneously, the edge of the contour in the central part of the fortress became raised. Subsequent ditches and ramparts were formed along the contour of the resulting structure. The archaeological collection obtained during the excavations is insignificant and includes eight stone sinkers made of flat pebbles by knapping the edges on both opposite sides, fragment of bone arrowhead, burnt chalcedony object in the form of a round plaque, and fragments of animal bones including a lower jaw of a pig. The evidence does not make it possible to find any parallels with the previously identified archaeological evidence and attribute this site to a specific archaeological culture, which fosters the need for further studying this fortress.