Bolgar Heritage in Materials from the Amoksar Burial Ground of the X–XII Centuries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2026.3.286.301Keywords:
archaeology, Cheboksary Reservoir, Vetluga-Vyatka interfluve, Amoksar Island, Volga Bulgaria, 10th–12th centuries, burial ground, Mari culture, dirhams, artifactsAbstract
The article analyzes materials from the Amoksar burial ground, located in the zone of the Cheboksary Reservoir. In terms of funerary rites and ornaments, the site is similar to the Mari burial sites of the Vetluga-Vyatka interfluve from the 10th–12th centuries. The population was constantly subjected to foreign cultural influence, being situated on the periphery of this region. Within the material culture, a distinct set of items shows connections with Volga Bulgaria: Kufic dirhams and their imitations, coin-shaped pendants, components of composite belts, pendants in the form of bells of type II A1V (according to Kazakov), spherical metal beads, small or medium-sized beads of the so-called "measuring type," stone beads and pendants made of carnelian and rock crystal, and a Bulgar vessel. Kashin (faience) beads and beads with white-blue eyelets on a dark base are of southern origin. The discovered items are the result of trade. Mapping the finds shows that the Amoksar burial ground differs from similar sites in the Vetluga-Vyatka interfluve in the diversity of Bulgar artifacts, both typologically and quantitatively. This circumstance suggests the possible existence of a trading post in close proximity.
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