Construction of the Lower Don Meotian settlements of the first centuries AD: current understanding and stages of its formation.

The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the accumulated historiographical data on the emergence of Lower Don Meotian settlements in the delta of the Don River at the turn of eras, focusing on their construction characteristics in particular. The composition of this group of monuments is clarified, and questions about the reasons for their appearance related to political, economic, and natural-geographical factors are discussed, as well as their relationship with the Bosporan Kingdom, which influenced the features of their material culture. The main attention is paid to the history of the study of residential construction in these settlements, identified at various stages of their archaeological investigation, as well as the systematization and generalization of the information accumulated over two centuries of research. The goal of the work is to highlight and define the main features of the stages of forming ideas about housing construction among the Lower Don Meots. The research methodology is based on the analysis of archaeological data regarding the nature of construction in Lower Don Meotian settlements and the comparison of construction practices recorded at different monuments. The author distinguishes three stages in the study of these monuments. The first encompasses the 19th to early 20th centuries—a time of theoretical assumptions about the character of the material culture of the Lower Don Meots with almost complete absence of archaeological data. The second stage falls into the interwar period and includes extensive exploration work at a significant number of monuments, laying the groundwork for their systematic study in the future. The third stage began after World War II and continues to this day. It is associated with the accumulation of detailed data on residential architecture and construction techniques as a result of predominantly rescue excavations. The article describes the types of open residential structures (stone and adobe), their planning, the building materials and construction methods used, as well as details of the internal arrangement, such as floors, partitions, bedding areas, and hearths. The author emphasizes the existing gaps in the study of residential architecture of Lower Don Meotian settlements and the need to expand both archaeological and theoretical research to address them.