The site of Kafirkala is located on the left bank of the Dargom canal, on a hill overlooking the surrounding area.
The site of Kafirkala is located on the
left bank of the Dargom canal, on a hill overlooking the surrounding area.
The settlement has a three-part division
and includes a citadel-palace, a shakhristan, a rabad adjoining it from the
west, towers and fortress walls.
The citadel of Kafirkala is large in size
and almost square in shape. Its dimensions at the base are 76 × 76 m (at the
top 58 × 58 m), with a height of 20-25 meters. It is inscribed in the
shakhristan and is separated by a moat and an outer (second) defensive line of
rectangular towers along the outer border of the moat. The only entrance to the
citadel was located in the center of the southern facade, the outer side of it
was marked by a portal.
A large courtyard (40x40m) with aywans
around the perimeter was in the core of the monumental-palace complex. The roof
of the palace was supported by multiple wooden columns. The interior was richly
decorated with wood carvings, as evidenced by numerous wooden beams and planks
damaged by fire. As a result of a large fire, the columns, beams and bases of
the columns burned down. Until recently, only the southern part of this large aywan
type building was studied. The remaining structures comprised the central
entrance and the bases of the columns (only the bases survived).
Shakhristan is quadrangle in shape with each
side 360 m long. It is separated from the citadel by a moat and an outer
(second) defensive line of rectangular towers along the outer border of the
moat. To the south of the shakhristan, along the edge of the ravine, a chain of
burial structures – naus once approached. To the east of the shakhristan,
behind the riverbed of Ilansai river, a quarter of potters was discovered.
The ancient site of Kafirkala and the data
obtained in the course of the survey have repeatedly attracted the attention of
researchers, and, moreover, were repeatedly used for wider reviews and
publications on the craft and art of Sogd. Special focus was given to the
ceramic craft (Grigoriev, 1946; Marshak, 2012) and spiritual culture
(Meshkeris, 1989). An important outcome of the research at Kafirkala was a
great number of artifacts of tremendous historical and cultural significance.
The numerous fragments of ceramics, coins and finds from stone, bronze, iron
and wood located in the course of archaeological surveys, which date back to
the early Middle Ages, reveal the material culture of the Sogdians, the degree
of development of the technologies and skills, the main directions of cultural
and trade links.
Documentation of the site within the
framework of drafting the nomination dossier "The Great Silk Road:
Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor", the following data was collected:
§ over
1,400 photographs (including detailed aerial photographs of facades and roofs
of architectural elements, perspective and artistic aerial photographs,
panoramic photographs, as well as photographs revealing visual points in the
context of the surrounding urban environment at the level of the human eye);
§ 2
video fly-overs, conveying a complete picture of the volume of the monument and
the town-planning (urban) context;
As a result, the following has been
obtained:
§ detailed
orthophotomosaics and 3D-model of the territory of the monument, where the
architectural, infrastructural, household and other elements are available for
detailed visual examination;
§ digital
elevation model (DEM), which allows the most complete assessment of the
features of the urban and natural landscape, as well as obtain a detailed
topographic map of the territory;
§ detailed
3D models of architectural objects, fully transmitting the entire spectrum of
visual perception, both of the object as a whole, and of its individual
elements (high accuracy of shape and geometry in real scale with georeference,
high-resolution texture that allows for visual assessment of the state of
conservation of minor details, etc.)
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