Semikarakory: The Tower on the North Wall and a Relative Chronology of the Lower Don Khazar Forts

Abstract

The article examines the synchronicity of the existence and destruction of the Semikarakory and Right-bank Tsimliansk Khazar forts. Evidence includes: the complete congruity of the two-chambered constructions with furnaces in both forts; the use of the same type of tile; the overall destruction of the two forts, reflected in interments of children and women who had perished. The forts were destroyed no later than the 830s–840s. Dating is based on materials of the Right-bank fort. Comparisons with the Sarkel archeological site are relevant: at Sarkel, the tile is different and it is negligible. Construction of fired brick appears on the Lower Don for the first time at the Semikarakory fort, but not at Sarkel. Although previously suggested, our excavations at Semikarakory fort indicate that the historical figure Petrona Kamatir [Petronas Kamateros] was not the initiator of brick fortification on the Lower Don. But was the Semikarakory fort the earliest? The entire left bank of the Lower Don is in need of more thorough research.