Археолого-геофизическое исследование Зильгинского городища и Бесланского курганного катакомбного могильника в Северной Осетии

Abstract

The article is devoted to new methodological techniques in the study of widely known sites of the early stage of Alanic culture of the Central Ciscaucasia — Zilgi hillfort and Beslan kurgan catacomb burial ground (RNO — Alania). The use of satellite images, low-altitude aerial photography, photogrammetry and magnetometric survey made it possible to obtain fundamentally new information about these well-studied sites and to specify their topographic and planigraphic features in the shortest time with minimal destructions. The excavations carried out in two areas of the Beslan necropolis helped to considerably refine its chronological framework, trace the development of the necropolis from the Zilgi hillfort to the southeastern periphery and identify the area of the most recent graves dating from the middle of the 7th century AD, which were made near the eastern border of unfortified settlement of Zilgi. The non-destructive survey methodology tested by the team has wide prospects for the study of Alanic culture sites of the Central Caucasus, especially at its early stage. Keywords: North Caucasus, Alanic culture, “earthen hillforts”, barrow catacomb burials, photogrammetry, Remote Sensing data, magnetometric survey