История археологического изучения Арского района республики Татарстан

The article is devoted to the history of archaeological studies and current status of the archaeological sites located in Arsk District of the Republic of Tatarstan. The study of the area began in the middle of the XIX century, but the majority of monuments (about 40 objects) were found in the middle of the XX century. About a dozen of new sites were discovered in the second half of the XX and early XXI century. Excavations were carried out in the fortress of Arsk and the cemetery of Aty. The data on epigraphic monuments of the XVI–XVII centuries are provided, and the stages of settling the area are traced. The first archeological finds belong to the Neolithic period; small groups lived there during the Bronze Age and in the early Middle Ages. The Bulgar population appeared there in the XII century and supported interrelations with the local population of the area. The Mongol invasion and the inclusion of the Bulgar territories in the structure of the Mongolian Empire stimulated the formation of local centers (Arsk fortress) on the edges of the former Bulgarian state. In the XVII–XVIII centuries small groups of pagan (Udmurt and Mari) population (Aty cemetery) were spread among the Tatar environment (gravestones of the XVI–XVII centuries) in the region.