Abstract
In 2020–2021, the remains of a huge wall were uncovered in vicinity of large ancient settlement of the 4th –1st centuries BC, located in the southern part of Chokrak Lake in the cliff at the western slope of the cape Yuzny. The wall had width up to 2,4 m and was traced towards the lake for at least 32 m, and most likely more. Due to few accompanying artefacts, time of its construction can be related to the beginning of the third century BC. Apparently, a similar wall existed on the eastern slope of this cape. Obviously, there were a continuation of this fortifications at the settlement on the lower terraces of the cape, which now are almost completely flooded by the lake. Less likely that both walls were somehow related with the salt and therapeutic mud extraction in antiquity. At the same time, an “anomaly” was recorded in the stratigraphy of the western excavation. It can be explained only by a temporary significant (up to 2 m) lake level rise, probably at early medieval period. In any case, this is a significant reason for further paleogeographic and archaeological research of water level dynamics and the Sea of Azov coastal history in the antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Keywords
Crimean Azov region, archaeology, paleoecology, narrative sources, Chokrak Lake, construction remains, chronology.
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