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The article presents short characteristic of bone-carving craft of medieval Azak according to materials of archaeological excavations in 2012–2013. It also suggests criteria for identifying bone-carving workshops at archaeological sites and lists some related difficulties. In the article is given the description of used raw materials and listed range of products. It is noted that quantity of manufacturing wastes on the one hand and blanks and products on the other is incommensurable. Some production techniques are reconstructed based on the traces of processing preserved on waste and blanks. For the first time for Azak a workshop where bone coin scales were produced is discovered. The conclusion is made about rather high qualification of local bone-carvers and it is noted that the ratio of bones from different animals among production wastes is proportional to meat consumption wastes.

The article deals with the materials of the most unusual of the burial grounds of the Golden Horde Azak. It is located on the eastern border of the city's residential area and is part of the chain of the outer arc of necropolises that girdles it and emerged during the reign of Uzbek Khan. The burial ground is located on both sides of the headwaters of the Kirsanova Balka. 154 burials were investigated on 8 excavations. The burials are very shallow. The grave pits do not form rows, but are grouped in clusters. They include burials very different in rite and often cover each other. All possible variants of inhumation are found. The corpse position is equally variable – from stretched out on the back to severely bent over. Grave goods were found in 24% of the burials. Earrings, beads, rings, knuckle-bone, mirrors and their fragments, knives, fire lighter, scissors and ram's bones were found. Such elements of the ritual as the use of fire, copper ongons, ceramics, and fragmentation of mirrors were established. Some of the burials can be classified as Muslim. They do not form individual areas and are not the latest. Coins found in the burials and on the territory of the burial ground allow dating the necropolis to the first half of the XIV century. Only for some burials it is possible to determine the ethnic and cultural affiliation. The burial ground has no analogies among non-Muslim necropolises of large Golden Horde cities of the XIV century.

The paper presents calculation of the population of the Golden Horde Azak and its district based on the analysis of the results of long-term excavations of the Golden Horde Azak. The most reliable data are available for the period around 1340, when the population of the city was 54 thousand inhabitants. To determine the dynamics of the city's development, calculations are also given for the periods around 1290 and 1395, when the city's population was about 3.0-3.5 and 12.5-13.5 thousand inhabitants. The number of nomads in territories economically gravitating towards Azak can be estimated at 250 thousand people, this number is rather an upper limit. The question of the size of the non-nomadic population of the Azak district remains unclear, since even the approximate number of sedentary settlements is unknown, therefore the estimate of more than 300 thousand inhabitants proposed in the article is speculative. Despite the approximate calculations, such studies are necessary for a proper understanding of the history of the Golden Horde. The data presented in this paper will be updated, but the order of the numbers will most likely not change. Based on data on the population of Azak, we can conclude that during its heyday it was one of the largest cities not only in Eastern Europe, but in Europe as a whole. Based on the data on the size of the city, it allows us to conclude that it acted not only as a center of intermediary transcontinental trade, but also as a trade and craft center of a large region. Research similar to that presented in this article should be carried out in the future for other regions of the Golden Horde.

The paper considers the 14th century Crimean glazed ceramics with ornithomorphic design made in “sgraffito”, “sgraffito with polychrome coloring” techniques, or a combination of “sgraffito” and “engobe scraping” techniques discovered in the territory of the town of Azov. On the basies of the most preserved items, the following compositions were subdivided, according to the main or key characters, which is a bird: a long-legged bird in tall grass with wings decorated with stylized floral ornament and folded on its back; a large short-legged bird in brushwood with a large expanding tail and plumage designed with rows of scalloped lines; a bird with its wings spread over its back set against the background of spiral-shaped, wavy lines; a procession of birds in a circle, schematically arranged; a small bird widely opening its beak with spread wings over its back with a large elongated object in front of it; a feeding bird arranged inside a hexagon formed by double lines with an ornament between them; a small bird in round medallion with a floral ornament; a bird and a fish with their beak and mouth touching each other. Moreover, the variants of painting of different body parts of the bird, their ornaments, and the elements emphasized by the craftsman: drawn pupils, nasal bone, crest, additional ornaments on the neck, protuberant breast, folded or spread ornamented wings, and other features were also investigated in detail.

The paper presents the results of a pottery workshop studies. The workshop was discovered during excavations in the city of Azov on Sotsialistichesky lane, 53 in 2015. It was located in the central area of medieval Azak and was a pottery production complex, consisting of a two-tier kiln and a kiln pit interconnected with a furnace channel. Almost all ceramic material from the filling of the firing chamber were locally produced vessels - products of this workshop. It is represented by one-handle glazed jugs of small and medium size with typical traces of defects (overfiring, cracks, deformations). This workshop had a narrow specialization and small production volume. Judging by stratigraphy and numismatic data, it ceased to function in the beginning of the first decade of the 14th century.

The paper provides data on findings, the analysis of which complements the topography of the Golden Horde city of Azak, indicating the locations of several mosques in its territory. The scarce information from written sources, represented by the works of Ibn-Battuta and Josaphat Barbaro, does not provide a basis for an accurate localization. Archaeological materials come to the rescue. Among them are fragments of stone paste and clay tiles, fragments of mosaics, as well as carved stone slabs, glass lamps, and marble mortars. The finds are concentrated in several locations within the city, some of them accompanying the excavated foundations of the walls and minaret towers. An important role is assigned to specimens of architectural decoration containing inscriptions. The paper features the first translation of the Arabic texts found on the inscriptions. It serves as an additional confirmation of the proximate location of Muslim cult structures. As a result of mapping the finds and excavated parts of the buildings, five places were identified in different parts of the city, where a mosque or madrasah very likely existed.

This work introduces a collection of stone-made architectural details and decorations found in the course of archaeological research of the Golden Horde town of Azak. When analyzing the architectural decorations, the main attention was paid to the search for analogies in the regions which were part of the Azak's trade and cultural relations. The work describes the peculiarities of ornamentation, construction methods and chronological attribution of the complexes where the finds were discovered. Close cultural connections were revealed between the local masters and the builders from the Golden Horde Crimea who, in turn, adopted the traditions from Seljuk architects who moved to the peninsula in the middle of the 13th century. It became possible to identify a local tradition of stone carving with no analogies in other Golden Horde towns and neighboring regions.

The paper provides an overview of Azak archaeology during the last period of its existence, from the end of the ‘Velikaya zamyatnya’ period and its capture by Tokhtamysh to the Timur’s invasion in September 1395. The turmoil resulted in a reduction of the town area, which was at least 4-fold. All urban peripheral areas were abandoned. But Azak still remained a large center according to the Eastern European standards. Most of the town’s burial grounds stopped operating. The town center retained its layout, including the traditional cobbled streets. The density of urban development probably did not change noticeably. Dugout housing disappeared, but large houses with cellars and warehouses still preserved. The number of utility pits significantly decreased. In some cases, city districts were inhabited by the representatives of the same specialization. There was a qualitative leap in the development of the local pottery craft. The variety of local coinage types reached its maximum. Signs of restoration of trade relations with other regions of the Golden Horde are traced, but they did not return to the pre-crisis level. Actually stable links only remained with Crimea and overseas centers. The rural district of Azak preserved, but nothing definitive can be said about its size during that period. Evidence of Timur’s invasion is poorly traced, which especially concerns the burials of murder victims. At the same time, there is no evidence of continued operation of the town after 1395.

The field studies of the early 21st century have provided qualitatively new results. The fundamental information on Ukek is presented with regard to data of the previous years of studies. This includes details of the monument area and the preservation of the cultural layers. It is highlighted that the city used to serve as a crossing site, and the specific terrain relief distinguishing Ukek from the other Golden Horde cities on the Volga was probably reflected in its name. Individual construction traditions and crafts have been determined, as well as the ethnical and confessional composition of the population. According to the ceramic and numismatic materials, the route from Ukek through Azak to Crimea, Constantinople and Trebizond has been identified, and close interrelations with Mohshi have been recorded. Dating of the city’s cultural layers is presented, and the period of maximum administrative prosperity is determined as the one associated with numerous imported articles and the period of the city’s own coinage. This period precedes the time of the city’s maximum dimensions.

The purpose of the work is to combine all stone Muslim gravestones of the 14th century found during the excavations of the Golden Horde city of Azak. A significant number of publications covers studies of urban and rural necropolises of the Golden Horde cities, including Azak. The publications, in addition to the description of the funerary rite, contain details of the graveside structures. However, the studies are mainly focused on the description of epigraphic inscriptions on gravestones. Their architectural design often falls out of the researchers’ field of interest. In this work, attention is paid to both the epigraphy and the stylistic features of gravestone design. As noted by the authors, the design of Azak gravestones clearly traces the influence of Asia Minor region’s traditions of the Seljuk period. But unlike the finds from Turkey, the gravestones of Azak and the Crimean cities are less ornamented and schematically decorated. The study of stone monuments, including gravestones, allowes to identify the cultural, economic and religious processes that took place in Azak, as well as to determine the origins of certain artistic traditions of different regions of the Golden Horde.

The article proposes to discuss the issue of grain processing and the development of flour milling in the cities of the Golden Horde. Using the example of the archaeological research of the city of Madzhar and the materials obtained during the archaeological work in the city of Azak, as well as drawing on medieval sources, the need for this production among the nomadic population, traveling merchants, ambassadors and missionaries is also considered.