ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION IN THE ITUM-KALINSKY DISTRICT OF THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC IN 2021

The article presents the results of archaeological surveys conducted in 2021 on the territory of lands allocated for economic development under the project “Construction of a Tower Small Hydroelectric Power Station on the Argun River in the Itum-Kalinsky district of the Chechen Republic”. The purpose of the work was to localize on the ground and clarify the location of cultural heritage objects relative to the above-mentioned land plot, to ensure the preservation of archaeological monuments known from archival data located in the area of construction work, to identify new archaeological monuments in order to register them for state registration, protection and introduction into scientific circulation. During the work, the previously known objects of cultural heritage “Ushkaloy watchtowers-twins”, “Ushkaloy burial ground” were examined and two new objects of cultural heritage were identified: the complex of archaeological monuments “Bashin-Kali”, including the remains of the fortification of the Caucasian war period “Bashin-Kali” of the 19th century (built in 1858), two destroyed burial grounds of the early Iron Age – the Middle Ages and the settlement of the Bronze Age, as well as the burial ground “Guchum-Kali”. The works included the study of agricultural terraces of the economic territory of Guchum-Kali village. On the territory, in some places, several foundations of residential and outbuildings have been recorded, according to local residents, dating back to the period of the 30-40s of the XX century. The laying of pits on the terraces revealed the presence of materials dating back to the 19th-20th centuries. The high saturation of the exploration site with monuments opens up prospects for further study of the territory not only of the Itum-Kalinsky district, but also the study of archaeological monuments of the mountainous regions of Chechnya as a whole.