Archaeological Studies of the Ancient Turkestan Site: results of 2011-2012 excavations

The results of the 2011-12 excavations on the Eski-Turkestan site conducted by the Turkestani archaeological expedition (Institute of archaeology named after A. Margulan) are presented. The site contains the remains of the ancient town of Yasy (modern town of Turkestan, South Kazakhstan oblast). The aim of the excavations was to study the earliest layers of the settlement, the primary stages of the city formation, and to identify construction elements of the ancient citadel in particular. It has been established that the most ancient nucleus of the city was located under Kultobe hill on the eastern edge of the settlement. The oldest architectural object of the citadel is a cruciform construction with powerful rammed clay defensive walls having narrow loopholes, preserved to a height of over 3 m. The three rooms were connected by arched doorways. In the second construction horizon, a building with long narrow rooms around a small open courtyard had been added to this "castle". During this period, around the perimeter of the citadel powerful rammed clay and mud-brick defensive walls had been erected, with the space between them and the extended castle being just partially built up. These two periods can be dated to the 1st–3rd centuries AD. This stage comes to an end with defeat and a fire. In the fire layer, numerous ceramic vessels in disassembling have been found. Individual unique finds have been made, and alabaster idols are of special interest. The restoration of the fortification wall and a new stage of the citadel development refer to the 9th-11th centuries. At the base of the new wall, pots with sacrificial food have been discovered, one of them bearing a runic inscription.