THE GATE OF THE MEDIEVAL SITE OF KOSKUDUK

The article considers the topographic location, chronology, economy and excavations of the medieval site of Koskuduk, located in the Shui Valley. Although the first information about this site entered scientific circulation in the late 1980-th, accurate and scale excavations were not carried out. The Shui archaeological detachment (head Y.Sh. Akymbek) of the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Margulan in 2018 in the eastern corner of the medieval site of Koskuduk was organized the test pit, shurf and in 2019 on the site of the North-Eastern gate excavates and receives valuable information about the periodization, fortification, the economy of medieval city. The authors of the article draw the special attention to the etymology of the names of the gates in general, medieval gate structures in the Shui Valley, based on researched of other city gates. The radiocarbon analysis of charcoal from pit was carried out in 2018, and it was established that the site dates back to the XI-XII centuries (1043-1104 (41.1%) calAD; 1117-1211(54.3%) calAD). The ceramics complex, discovered at the gate site, is dominated by tableware. The X-ray diffractometric analysis of one instance of kitchen and dining utensils was carried out in order to determine which minerals are contained in the clay of the detected ceramic products. As the result, although the minerals and other impurities in the clay composition of the dishes are generally the same, there are significant differences in percentages. There are number of whole buried skeletons of dogs and partially entire preserved skeletons of horses were found at the gate zone. In addition, archaeozoological analysis of other osteological materials identified in the excavations was carried out, as well as comparative studies of the external forms of pets (cattle and dogs).