THE ARCHEOLOGICAL STUDY OF HISTORICAL VILLAGES IN THE VICINITIY OF SUZDAL
The paper introduces preliminary results of the field investigation at historical villages in Suzdal' Opolie region. The term “historical village” is usually referred to the presently inhabited rural settlements with long lasting timeline that could be more or less traced from narrative sources. This category of sites is not specially determined in Russian archaeology and its name is not used as a fixed term. Nevertheless, archaeological research at historical villages is of great importance as it can shed light at the sites, which constituted the most steady elements of the rural settlement network in historical perspective. One of our aims was to fix the time when the settlement system marked by the existing villages in Syzdal' Opolie emerged and to trace continuation and changes in settlement development and layout. It must be admitted that in the local circumstances the research of the inhabited medieval rural settlements faces challenges. It means that specific approaches to the field works and research programs are required. The article represents the potential of “historical villages” studies on the example of the 4 sites in the vicinity of Suzdal. Three of them (Gnezdilovo, Vysheslavskoe, Turtino) preserved cultural layers and households' remains dated 2nd half of the 12th - 1st half of the 13th centuries. The fourth one, Glebovskoe, produced even earlier remains, from the end of the 10th - the 11th centuries. Archeological investigations in Suzdal' Opolie indicate close connections between the medieval villages and modern settlements: test pits placed nearby the modern households produce ceramics of all chronological periods through the last eight centuries. All the villages in question have had their own life rhythm and dynamics. However, the most important feature that they have in common is the fact that all of them were established as large settlement complexes.