The history of the study of settlements from the Middle Bronze Age in mountainous Dagestan

The article is dedicated to the history of the study of settlements of the Middle Bronze Age in mountainous Dagestan. Researching these settlements will shed light on issues of local specificity and the patterns of cultural-historical, socio-economic, and ethno-cultural development in areas with a high intensity of contact among various cultures. The article focuses on the historiography of the study of Middle Bronze Age settlements in the mountainous Republic of Dagestan, highlighting stages of research and summarizing the results. The first stage – pre-Soviet – from 1880 to 1917; the second stage – from 1918 to 1941; the third stage – from 1945 to 1951; the fourth stage – from 1951 to 1973; the fifth stage – from 1974 to 1991; the sixth stage – from 1992 to 2024. There are prerequisites for a detailed study of Bronze Age settlements in mountainous Dagestan. These are based on significant materials obtained and comparative data from other regions of Dagestan and the Caucasus. A large amount of material has been accumulated from settlements and cemeteries. An important circumstance is the presence of substantial research in the archaeology of Dagestan and the Caucasus, the data of which are analyzed in the article. The article analyzes perspectives on issues related to the study and interpretation of materials from Middle Bronze Age settlements in mountainous Dagestan. In summary, it should be noted that domestic monuments of Dagestan have been studied variably. Among the settlements in the mountainous region, the Upper Gunib and Irganay No. I settlements stand out due to the scale of research. The materials from the Upper Gunib and Irganay No. I settlements are a valuable source for studying the local culture, but unfortunately, they require summarization and complete publication. To fully address the issues related to the study of settlements from the Middle Bronze Age, new explorations and large-scale excavations are necessary. The settlements in mountainous Dagestan remain relatively poorly studied, particularly in Southern Dagestan, which remains a blank spot on the archaeological map of Dagestan. There is a pressing need to conduct large-scale excavations of settlements from the Kayakent-Khorochoyev culture.