Shashtepa

Shashtepa, Chochtepa — multilayer archaeological monument. The oldest settlement and the first fortress in the territory of the city of Tashkent — the ruins of Chochkat (6th century BC – 16th century AD). The monument consists of one high and steep mound and another lower, broader massive hill located on the left and right banks of the Joonarikh River. Its total area is approximately 25 hectares. Initially recorded by N.S. Likoshin, a member of the Tashkent archaeology amateurs group; archaeological excavations were carried out by N.P. Ostroumov (1896); examined by G.V. Grigoryev (1934), N.I. Krasheninnikova (1956), G. Dadaboyev (1970). Since 1978, regular archaeological excavations have been conducted by the Tashkent archaeological expedition (V.I. Sprishevskiy, M.I. Filanovich). The research is currently continued by M.I. Filanovich.

On the left bank of the Joonarikh River, a steep mound about 18–19 m high (area 150–120 m) is the remains of an early settlement, whose lower cultural layers contain the remains of the late phase of the ancient Dekkonic culture (see Burganli culture) of the 6th–4th centuries BC, where the settled population lived.

According to archaeological research, in the 3rd century BC nomadic pastoralist Sarmatian tribes from the Southern Urals and the Eastern Pre-Caspian region moved northward, destroyed the ancient settlement of Chochkat, and turned it into a cemetery.

Mil. av. 2 — I centuries in the city, on the ruins of an ancient village, a circular fortress was erected, surrounded by a thick surrounding wall. The fortress wall, 4 m thick, was built from large raw bricks. Along the inner circumference of the 60 m diameter fortress wall, a long building with a tiled roof was constructed. The building was divided into sections, each having a gate leading outward. In the central part of the fortress, a monumental cross‑shaped building was erected. Its walls are 2 m thick, and its roof is tiled. The building is divided into rooms and corridors. On the southern wing of the building’s front, a tiled gatehouse and, on its two sides, vaulted pavilions are placed. The overall plan of the fortress building: a circular outer wall with a passage, a cross‑shaped central building, a tiled front, and vaulted pavilions, shows that it was constructed according to a very well‑thought‑out plan and is considered a rare architectural monument of its era.

Many artistic finds were recorded among the cultural layers of the city. Among them are household and agricultural items: a loom, a spindle, a loom weight, one‑ear and two‑ear clay pots, two‑ear ceramic cauldrons, a trough, water jars, kebab stands with a grill, woolen blankets, iron knives, a sickle, etc. Among the finds are two rare objects: a fragment of a bone cup made of elephant bone and a bone pen, which are especially noteworthy. On a bone cup fragment measuring 5 × 3.5 cm the head of a large man with a broad forehead, horse‑like face, sharp nose, almond‑shaped eyes, a moustache and a moustache‑like beard of a middle‑aged person is depicted in relief. The bone pen is 15 cm long. One end is sharpened for writing, the other end is shaped like a rhombus resembling a snake’s head. These finds belong to the 1st–2nd centuries AD and indicate that Chochda was already an ancient settlement and that the Shoshtepa caravans route was in contact with Near and Middle Eastern countries.

The finds were the product of a distinctive culture created by ancient peoples who lived for many centuries on the border between the steppe and the cultivated plain, never burning, and who were in economic and cultural contact with each other. This culture is called the Qovunchi culture in science.

As an administrative village, Sh. rose in the 2nd–1st centuries AD to become an early town, serving as an administrative, craft centre, a market for mutual trade between nomadic herders and settled farmers at the border of the Qang’ state, which was formed in the middle course of the Syr Darya and merged with the steppe‑to‑Tashkent plain border.

In the middle of the V century, as a result of the migration of pastoralists toward the south, the central cross‑shaped building that had long been a place of worship in the city was turned into a cemetery. In the early 6th–8th centuries, life in the city rose again considerably. As a result of the Arab Caliphate conquest, the city was destroyed. In the 11th–12th centuries life there revived somewhat, but in the 16th century the city became almost ruined.

Although the fortress that once stood in the city never developed into a full‑scale city appearance, it is nevertheless a monument of great importance for studying the formation and development of urban culture in the Tashkent region.