Archaeological studies at the Narovchat settlement

From April 28 to May 19, 2024 the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences conducted archaeological excavations at the Narovchat settlement in Penza region.

Archaeological studies were carried out as a part of the state program of the Republic of Tatarstan “Preservation of the identity of the Tatar people (2020-2025)”, aimed at conducting historical and archaeological research of medieval cities and studying the historical and cultural Turkic-Tatar heritage outside the Republic of Tatarstan.

The excavations were facilitated by the Governor of the Penza region O.V. Melnichenko, the Narovchat district authority, the Institute for Regional Development of the Penza region.

The Narovchat settlement is associated with the Golden Horde city of Mokhsha, which was founded in the early XIV century in a region, inhabited by Burtas, Bolgars and Mordovians. During the reign of Uzbek Khan, the khan’s headquarters was moved here, and the city became the capital of the Golden Horde, having grown considerably in size. Mokhsha existed until the second half of the XIV century and ceased to exist after the disintegration of the Golden Horde.

The excavation of this field season with the area of 110 sq. m. was made in the south-western part of the settlement on the site of the anomaly, which was identified during geophysical surveys in 2022. At the level of the stratum 6 there was recorded buried in the virgin soil structure, in the filling of which there was a dark gray dense sandy loam with single inclusions of burned brick fragments. An entrance in the form of a lobby was revealed on the south-eastern side of the structure. Two post-holes were found in the central part of the structure. Finds from the structure are represented by slag fragments, shards of wheel-made red-clay pottery of the Golden Horde period (XIV century). A small set of Golden Horde copper coins was found.

On May 18 in Narovchat within the X International conference “Dialogue of urban and steppe cultures in the Eurasian space in memory of G.A. Fyodorov-Davydov” a round table “Mokhsha – results of studies and prospects of development” with a visiting.