Ukek: The Golden Horde city and its periphery

Between 1993-2001, in his studies into medieval Russian principalities, the author undertook field researches around the river landscapes of the Saratov territories, covering an area of more than 450 square kilometers, including Uvek, and the settlementsat Boldyrevskoe, Konstantinovskoe, and Hmelevskoe. (In particular, the material from the Uvek site is of considerable importance and is separately and systematically described in this volume). These studies, and the analysis of a great deal of material never before fully discussed, provide an opportunity to make some important general conclusions that have relevance over the wider region. One of the author's conclusions is that, within the Ukek lands, the complex sets of monuments found there point to a dominant Golden Horde city. This is important because no special research has previously been devoted to the problem of the interaction of Golden Horde cities with their agrarian periphery. The work is therefore invaluable in the further preparation of general archaeological, historical, and regional ethnographical studies into the Saratov region. The monograph is divided into three sections. The first presents the available written and numismatic data, while the two others consider the archaeological material in depth. The chronologies are presented in the conclusion, and the Appendices provide detailed descriptions of the monetary finds.