Starokuibyshevskoe VII Settlement: historical and archaeological studies

The publication considers the results of historical-and-archaeological and cartographic studies of Starokuibyshevskoe VII settlement – a cultural heritage site discovered in 2015. An analysis of the cartographic sources related to the town of Spassk allowed to identify an ancient earth fortification in its Eastern area. A section of its Eastern part in the form of a moat was traced during the excavation of 2016. The moat was constructed in the 10th century by the Bolgar population and filled by the 12th century. The moat was filled with the use of rampart earthwork which partially consisted of the layers of an earlier settlement generally dated the 1st Millennium. This area was repeatedly populated in the late pre-Mongol period (12th – first third of the 13th centuries) to accommodate household and economic facilities. The moat studied by the authors is not related to the defensive structures of Starokuibyshevskoe settlement located on the opposite bank of the Bezdna river 470 meters the East of the setllement. Study results facilitate preliminary identification of the moat and rampart remains as earth fortifications plotted on the maps of the late 18th century.