Komintern III Settlement of the Golden Horde Epoch in Tatarstan

The paper deals with the materials of one of the settlements of the Golden Horde epoch – the III Komintern settlement, located in the Spassky district of the Republic of Tatarstan. The settlement occupies the edge of the above-meadow terrace of the Aktay River. Together with the II Komintern settlement it was a large rural center associated with handicrafts and trade. Unfortunately, a large part of the settlement was destroyed by waters of the Kuibyshev reservoir and all artefacts collected in the 1960s – early 2000s and published in this paper were found on eroded cultural layer. As the analysis of the material has shown, the III Komintern settlement was a craft part of this settlement and a pier where goods were unloaded. The peculiarity of its material culture is in a large number of fragments of cast-iron cauldrons. They are represented by standard forms (types Ч-3 m Ч-4), as well as a rare type – Ч-9, with three legs, having analogies in Chinese and Far Eastern materials of the 12th – 14th centuries. Pottery is represented by fragments of jugs, pots, bowls. Hand-made and corrected on a wheel pottery (bowls, pots, etc.) contains additives to clay: sand, crushed stone and dry clay. There is a group of so-called "Slavonic type" ceramics, typical for the sites of the second half of the 14th century. In other respects, the finds are characteristic of settlements that existed during the late 13th – early 15th centuries. The Komintern archaeological complex is interesting because it demonstrates the dynamics of the development of flood-plain settlements on the Lower Kama and their material culture throughout the Golden Horde period. It evolved from the Peschany Ostrov type settlement that appeared at the end of 13th – beginning of the 15th century to a trade and craft settlement during the middle – second half of the 14th – beginning of the 15th century.