Historical Geography Journal ISSN 2782-6511 (Print) | ISSN 3034-5286 (Online)

Nikolay V. Soldatkin
Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Ekaterinburg, Russia
E-mail: niksoldatkin@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0001-5873-1883

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UDC 902(470.5+574)«637»
DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2024-3-3-48-55

ABSTRACT. The purpose of the article is to test the hypothesis about the existence of not yet discovered the Bronze Age fortified settlements in the interval between the known sites of the Southern Trans-Urals and North Kazakhstan Ishim region. To do this, a search was conducted using satellite images, approximately from the line of Troitsk — Zhitikara to the line of Petropavlovsk — Yesil, along the Uy, Tobol, Ubagan, Ishim rivers with all their tributaries. Additionally, some areas outside the main search area were analyzed. The key search tool was Google Earth. Additional sources were archival and modern satellite images from other open-access resources. As a result, ten new objects were found that were similar to archaeological sites and corresponded to the external signs of the Sintashta-Petrovka type fortified settlements. They are located in the Chelyabinsk (3 objects), Kurgan (2), Bashkortostan (1) regions of the Russian Federation, and in the Kostanay (3), North Kazakhstan (1) regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan. A series of satellite images and a brief description of the objects are provided. This discovery could significantly increase the number of the known Sintashta-Petrovka type settlements (potentially up to 35–40), and correct the interpretations of this group of sites. The territory of their distribution is not limited to the Trans-Ural peneplain, but covers a vast area of the Ural-Kazakhstan steppes, in which three zones of concentration of fortified settlements are tentatively outlined: «Trans-Ural peneplain», «Turgai trough» and the «Ishim river area».

KEYWORDS: Ural-Kazakhstan steppes, Bronze Age, Sintashta-Petrovka type fortified settlements, remote methods, satellite images, archaeological evidence, human settlements.

For citation: Soldatkin N. V. [Searching for the Bronze Age Fortified Settlements of the Ural-Kazakhstan Steppes on the Basis of Satellite Imagery]. Istoriko-geograficheskiy zhurnal [Historical Geography Journal], 2024, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 48–55. DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2024-3-3-48-55 (In Russian).

Received 14 May 2024
Accepted 16 September 2024

© 2024 The Authors

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