Wineries in a Medieval Hillfort Aktobe

Abstract

Medieval hillfort settlement of Aktobe was located at a lowland of rivers Sargay, Aksu, Kara-Balta and Toktash. They fall into the middle reach of the Chu River that takes off from the Kyrgyz Ala-Too Range. The settlement of Aktobe existed in 6th-8th centuries. Similarly to all the medieval towns, it took up a lot of land and consisted of a citadel, shakhristan (a part of town within a defensive wall, but outside of the citadel) and rural area. Latter was located within a 2-7 km radius from the middle part of the settlement, on the left bank of the Aksu river. It was fenced off with a rampart, left from the defensive wall. Town activity was centred at the rural area. Archaeologists excavated this site in order to find out the purpose of the buildings and type of farming that required the use of irrigation ditches in the rural area. After years of research – in 1979 and 2007 – scientists found several estates as well as remnants of two small workshops built of sun-dried earth brick and rammed clay, looking quite similar. On the basis of building features scientist came to a conclusion that they were wineries. Wineries are dated 11th-12th centuries. From there, we may say that inhabitants of medieval Aktobe practiced viniculture. Thus, this article directly deals with archaeological excavations at the sites of workshops and their description.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s2p40