Golden Hills (in
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
, ''Zolotiye Gorki'') is an
archaeological site in southern
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
. It is located in the region of the lower
Don River
The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire.
Its ...
, on the
Aksay River about east of
Rostov-on-Don.
Golden Hills was the site of a fortress during the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
. It appears to have been part of a chain of fortifications erected or maintained by the
Khazar
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
Khaganate
A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a Khan (title), khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribe, tribal chiefdom, principality, monarch ...
. The main Khazar fort in this area is believed to be at
Semikarakorsk
Semikarakorsk (russian: Семикарако́рск) is a town and the administrative center of Semikarakorsky District in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Don River, northeast of Rostov-on-Don, the administrative center of ...
, located about 20 km to the east.
Artifacts from the site conform to those found at other
Saltovo-Mayaki
Saltovo-Mayaki or Saltovo-Majaki is the name given by archaeologists to the early medieval culture of the Pontic steppe region roughly between the Don and the Dnieper Rivers, flourishing roughly between the years of 700 and 950.
History
Saltovo- ...
settlements from the Khazar period (c. 8th-10th centuries CE)
The site was excavated beginning in June 2002 by a group of Russian, American, and British scholars from the
Rostov State University
Southern Federal University (), abbreviated as SFedU () and formerly known as Rostov State University (1957–2006), is a public university in Rostov Oblast, Russia with campuses in Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog
Taganrog ( rus, Таганр ...
and the
Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads. They carried out a geomagnetic survey and excavated approximately
Resources
Golden Hills excavation report at Khazaria.com''Donskaya Arkheologia'' Report
{{coord, 47.468, 40.403, display=title
Khazar towns
Archaeological sites in Russia
Saltovo-Mayaki culture
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Rostov Oblast