Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 52 (2) 2024   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.2.100-107

Annotation:  Who Were the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals? The Possibility of Their Dispersal Across Central Asia and S The “Makarovo” Component of Sosnovyi Bor, Southern Angara, Revisited Archaeological Collections from the Jomon Period in the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and E Revisiting the Correlation Between the Valdivia and San Pedro Ceramic Complexes (Based on Technologi Testing the Sample Preparation Method and Oxygen Isotopic Analysis of Tooth Enamel for the Reconstru Radiocarbon Chronology of the Bronze Age Fedorovka Culture (New Data Relevant to an Earlier Problem) Metal Spearheads from the Bronze Age—New Finds in the Omsk Region The Geochemistry of Unalloyed Copper Metallurgical Group Indicates Copper Ore Sources in the Late Br New Data on Armed Confl icts in the Altai During the Rouran Period: The Choburak I Cemetery New Findings Relating to Bone Processing from Chernyatino-2, Primorye Boundaries, Structure, and Integrity of the Occupation Layer at the Gordinskoye I (Guryakar) Fortifi Miniature Anthropomorphic Sculptures from Ust-Voikary: Chronology, Context, Semantics Russian Orthodox Churches “Under the Bells”: Semantic Features and Origin of the Worldview The Tree-Clan-Individual Concept in Traditional Khakas Culture (Late 19th to Mid-20th Century) The Oral Panji Story Rendered by the Javanese Mask Puppet Show The Origin of the Karasuk People: Craniometric Evidence   

Boundaries, Structure, and Integrity of the Occupation Layer
at the Gordinskoye I (Guryakar) Fortified Settlement,
Udmurtia (9th–13th Centuries), According to Multispectral Imaging

I.V. Zhurbin

Udmurt Federal Research Center, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, T. Baramzinoy 34, Izhevsk, 426067, Russia

Science-based studies at Gordinskoye I (Guryakar) fortified settlement in northern Udmurtia (9th-13th centuries AD) were carried out. The occupation layer had been largely destroyed by plowing. The statistical analysis of multispectral images and segmentation of the generated images of vegetation distribution make it possible to assess the integrity of the occupation layer. The preliminary conclusion about the presence of its parts, varying in thickness, is based on the analysis of the configuration of areas of segmented multispectral images and the correspondence of diverse segments to relief features. Assessment of archaeological context and of the preservation of occupation layer (superficially disrupted, replaced, or transported) is possible only with the use of geophysical and soil studies and targeted excavations. The available reference data allow us to interpret individual segments present solely on the flat surface of the promontory. The assessment of the parameters of the occupation layer within the entire survey area is possible through the extrapolation of properties of vegetation segments with known characteristics. Based on the totality of data, it can be assumed that the built-up area of Guryakar was limited by the outer fortification line. A thick occupation layer is localized on the promontory, within two inner structural parts of the site. Two other parts of Guryakar, situated between the residence area and the outer fortification line, were probably used for utility purposes and manufacture. The deposition of the medieval occupation layer was less intense there. Additional markers of the fortifications, delimiting the boundaries of the settlement’s structural parts, are vertically oriented linear areas of the transported layer on slopes of the promontory.

Keywords: Medieval settlements, multispectral imaging, statistical analysis, interdisciplinary studies, superficially disrupted, replaced, transported occupation layers