The myth of the motte and bailey castle in Scotland
An assessment of medieval earthwork fortifications in Scotland and their relationship to traditional Anglo-Norman motte and bailey castles, and earlier Scottish sites....
This article intended to present in brief the results of archaeological excavations of medieval town Mangup at the south-western Crimea.This is one of the largest sites among the group of so-called "cave-towns", as well as the main fortress and later city in the country of Crimean Goths. Most information on its history is given by archaeological excavations, which supplement scarce written sources. The strategy of archaeological excavation during the last twenty years was based on examining various elements of the complex for obtaining comprehensive set of data on its topography, stratigraphy and chronology. The priority in tactics for us was completion of research of the objects, which were earlier partially excavated by our predecessors, as well as of monuments being under the threat of destruction and plunder (especially cemeteries). Based on this research we tried to define the major phases in evolution of the settlement, which reflects the whole process noticed in the title of this report.
The process of construction of towns at the periphery of Byzantine world was determined by several factors, but the major one was the extent and duration of the external military pressure. This reason was the most important for Byzantine possessions in Taurica. Gothic campaigns of the third century, Huns' invasion in seventies of fourth century, return of part of Huns to Bosporus in the second half of fifth century, proximity of Turcic kaganat from the second half of the sixth century, and of Khazar kaganat from the second half of the seventh century, the threat of invasion from hungarians - the second half of ninth century, from pechenegs - the end of ninth - middle of eleventh century, from comans - eleventh - beginning of thirteen centuries, shattering invasion of Mongols in 1223, arrival of Tatars in 1236, the bloody civil wars in Golden Horde. The most devastating for the settled agricultural population at the coastal and mountainous areas were the campaigns of emir Nogai in 1299 and Tamerlan (end of fourteenth centuries). The existence "of the last piece of Byzantium at the Black Sea", as Alexander Vasiliev called the Crimea, was put to an end by Turkish invasion in 1475.
Article Source: http://mangexp.narod.ru
Image Source: Wikipedia
Keywords: Doros Theodoro, Mangup, Fortifications, Crimea, Byzantine, Ukraine
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