To the problem of urbanization of trans-urals: genesis, development and function of urban structures

The article is devoted to the origins of urbanization in Western Siberia, which should be associated with the formation of ancient fortified settlements - fortresses that appeared on this territory in the Bronze Age and proto-cities formed in the early Iron Age. The first simple fortifications in the form of stockades or fortified dwellings in the forest-steppe zone of Trans-Urals were fixed on the materials of the Bronze Age monuments. During this period their number was insignificant, it is known about12, the bulk continued to be unfortified settlement. The increase in the number of hillforts was greater in the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (45). They were round-oval hillfors with an area up to 4 hectares. There were major suburbs around them. The citadels of the time were poorly fortified fences. The appearance of first fortifications is connected with the destabilization of the political situation in the region as a result of the influx of migrants from the North of Western Siberia. Then the strengthening of the village with a palisade or a fence was not a defensive measure but probably ideological in nature. The aim was to preserve their cultural traditions within phratry. In the Early Iron Age the number of hillforts increases and stands more than 70 in the forest-steppe zone of Trans-Urals. Within this period the dynamics of fortification is well traced. Already at that time there was specialization of fortified settlements as centers of metalworking, import, exchange, cooperation of foreign population. The fortresses became the centers of origin and transmission of cultural innovation, and the process of urbanization and the resulting changes in the ancient and medieval societies to the greatest extent determined the development of the region. The process of urbanization of the Trans-Urals between two ages was influenced by the Great Migration, which was a kind of inhibitor. An outflow of the population to the west led to a dramatic decrease in the number of fortresses in the Medieval Age, but parameters and protective functions of hillforts increased at the same time. Archaeological materials demonstrate that the socioeconomic status of some hillforts, which performed not only a defensive function, but also had administrative, political and religious significance, substantially increased at that time. The actual formation of towns began after the Tyumen Khanate was formed in the Trans-Urals with its capital Chimgi-Tura (and, lately, Isker). When Siberia was annexed to the Moscow state and the Russian population began to assimilate it, the towns received a new impetus for their further development. Archaeological materials obtained during the excavations at those monuments demonstrate that urban settlements that appeared in Siberia during its colonization not only served as military and administrative fortresses, but also were bases of handicraft, industry and agriculture. Tobolsk, which was the first settlement in Siberia to receive the official status of a town, is one of the most striking examples.

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