The “Caffa” Archaeological Expedition

The “Caffa” Archaeological Expedition of the Institute of Archeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences specializes in the studies of the Golden Horde, Byzantine and Genoese monuments of the 13th – 15th centuries, as well as the material remains associated with the history of the Turkic-Tatar states and the Ottoman Empire of the 16th – 18th centuries in the territory of the Volga Region, the Crimean Peninsula and the North Caucasus.

The baseline study for the expedition is the investigation of the Genoa town of Caffa of the 13th – 15th centuries which became an Ottoman town of Kefe in the 16th – 18th centuries (contemporary Feodosia, the Republic of Crimea). It was established in 2000 as the East-Crimean (Feodosia) Expedition, and has been known as the Caffa Archaeological Expedition since 2014. The following excavations have been conducted by the expedition members over the course of almost twenty years: a medieval Armenian monastery in Dvukhyakornaya Valley (1998); a medieval city of Sudak-Soldaya-Sugdeya (2001 – 2002); Perekop fortress – Or-Kapu (2001); medieval settlement on Tepsen hill (2003 – 2009); settlements and castles of the Southern Coast of Crimea (Verkhnyaya Massandra, Uchansu-Isar, Dzhenevez-Kaya) (2004–2010); settlements, castles and anchorages of the rural outskirts of Caffa (Dvukhakorny Bay, Tikhy Bay, Koktebel) (2000–2010); settlements of the 13th – 15th centuries on the coast of the Kerch Strait (Dzukolai, Karkovoni, Chipriko, Zavida, Kubatuba) (2011, 2017, 2018); a Golden Horde village in central Crimea (Burulcha) (2013); a suburban palace of Crimean khans in the gorge of Ashlama-Dere gorge (2015 – 2016) – in the territory of the Republic of Crimea.  The medieval city of Bolgar (2012 – 2016) in the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan. A Golden Horde town of Majar (Stavropol Krai) (2015 – 2017).