Bakal Culture Dwelling at Settlement Ust-Tersyuk-1

Bakal Culture Dwelling at Settlement Ust-Tersyuk-1

T.N. Rafi kova and S.V. Berlina.

The study attempts to reconstruct the Bakal culture dwelling at fortifi ed settlement Ust-Tersyuk-1, introducing new data on house-building among the medieval population of the forest-steppe Trans-Urals region. It has been established that in addition to well-known, light frame buildings such as chums and yurts, the Bakal population also built stationary, semiunderground dwellings suitable for habitation throughout the year. These dwellings had a frame and pillar structure, inclined walls made of poles and twigs and a slightly sloping roof. The walls were plastered with clay on the inside and covered with sod on the outside. The remains of the dwelling, a hearth and a sleeping platform, have made it possible to reconstruct the dwelling’s interior furnishing.

Keywords: Early Middle Ages, forest-steppe Trans-Urals region, Bakal culture, material culture, house-building.