This year's digs in Samara region

This year, our archaeologists for the first time began digging in a village called Malaya Ryazan (approximately here). The digs began as a childrens expedition. Later, university students joined them. The settlement they explored is dated by the XIII century, the age of the Golden Horde. The inhabitants of this village left their lands in Rus and moved eastwards. Some data give reasons to think that the village was destroyed and all the people were slaughtered as a result of a feud between the Mongols.

Also, the digs were finished this year in a Bulgar settlement nearby. Among the most interesting finds are clay toys and an 8cm hollow iron sphere, whose purpose is unknown.

And, at last, near village Sidelkino (somewhere around here), large scale digs were finished. In the area of about 1000 m², a settlement of 3-4 centuries has been uncovered. In one of the buildings, a skeleton was found, with a skull deformation typical for the Sarmatians, inhabiting the Middle Volga in those times.