Archaeological EXCAVATIONS OF THE MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENT MATLAS IN THE MOUNTAINOUS AREA OF DAGESTAN

The article is devoted to the results of preserving archaeological research of the Matlas settlement, located on the western tip of the Khunzakh plateau, in the Khunzakh region, in the Midland Dagestan. The total area of the study was 406 square meters. As a result of the work, the foundations of the walls of stone buildings, probably residential and economic structures, were fixed. In addition, a piece of land, used for farming, was fixed. The cultural layer of the settlement contains fragments of various metal products, fragments of glass bracelets, stone products, ceramics, including fragments of glazed vessels, and numerous animal bones. An open complex of buildings dates from the XI-XII centuries, basing on chronological indicators (glazed ceramics and glass bracelets).Matlas settlement was a stationary settlement. This is indicated by the presence in the cultural layer of a large number of fragments of ceramic dishes, bones of domestic animals, individual finds related to human everyday activities (stone tools, millstone details, fragments of glass jewellery, and rare finds of metal objects). The presence of pig bones in the archeozoological material is an additional indicator of the settled life. Findings of millstone fragments indicate the cultivation of grain by its inhabitants. The prevalence of cattle bones in the layers of the settlement suggests the presence of cattle breeding, most likely distant one.Archaeological material, obtained during the excavations of the Matlas settlement, is significant for characterizing the culture, life and economic activities of the population of the mountainous area of medieval Dagestan.