During this summer field trip, researchers from NSU and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS examined a site on Hill Unyuk, which is located on the territory of the present-day Krasnoturansky region of Krasnoyarsk Krai. The site is a part of a well-known fortification object, but this time the researchers discovered some traces of a 17th century fortification camp which has not been described by archaeologists yet. The remains are reported to refer to a dynasty conflict of two Mongol khans, Altyn-khan Ombo Erdeni and his nephew Mergen-taisha.
Associate Professor of the Chair of Archaeology and Ethnography at NSU, Dr. Sergey Skobelev informs us about some preliminary results of this field trip. The main fortification on Hill Unyuk was surrounded by a stone and earth wall on the right bank of the Yenisei River near the estuary of the Sizaya River. It was a large fortress with a fortified citadel. This summer we discovered a fortification camp facing the main fortress. The camp was erected in the manner typical for the military experience of the Manchus and Mongols of the 17th century. The main fortress is likely to refer to the medieval period, but the exact time of its construction is not known. As for the fortification camp, it was mentioned in Russian manuscripts and dated 1652. Such fortifications are numerous on the territory of South Siberia, but this finding is quite unique in terms of exact dating and its connection to a particular historical person, which is really difficult to identify in most cases. A report of the Krasnoyarsk governor M. F. Scryabin to the Russian tsar, dated 1652, states that an Altyn-khan (a title for rulers in North Mongolia) had a quarrel with his nephew Mergen-taisha and besieged his nephew鈥檚 army. The location is mentioned, the fact of the siege is reported, but we don鈥檛 know any details of the fighting. We know only the result. The dynasty conflict ended with a settlement between the parties, who integrated their armies and left for North Mongolia. At those times South Siberia was already a part of Muscovy, with Mongol Altyn-khans having sworn an oath to the Russian tsar. However, the court of Muscovy was not powerful enough to control the region, and Altyn-khans enjoyed certain self-government. Although Russian governors could not interfere into dynasty wars of Mongol rulers, they kept watch over the situation and reported to the authorities in the center. The filed trip to Hill Unyuk was organized not only for researchers, but also for NSU undergraduate and graduate students. The trip turned quite fruitful as we fixed all the details of the fortifications, studied three medieval burial mounds with some interesting materials inside and found such a rare artifact as a backsword. The following field trips are to reveal possible connections between the mounds and the fortifications, as well as clarify how the latter were designed and erected.
