1,300-year-old structure could be a fortress, summer palace,
monastery, or even an astronomical observatory. Picture: gdehorosho.ru
With its island location and towering square walls that were once
impenetrable, it looks at first glance to be an ancient fortress or
kremlin to keep out enemies. Others believe the 1,300-year-old structure
in rural Siberia has more mystical properties and might have been a
summer palace, monastery, or even an astronomical observatory.
Whatever it is, more than a century after it was first explored,
archaeologists are no further forward in discovering the secrets of
Por-Bajin, who built it or why.
Most likely constructed in 757 AD, the complex has fascinated and
frustrated experts in equal measure since it was located in the middle
Tere-Khol, a high-altitude lake in Tuva, in the late 19th century.
First explored in 1891, with small-scale excavation work later
carried out between 1957 and 1963, it was not until 2007 that proper
research took place at the site.
Archaeologists found clay tablets of human feet, faded coloured
drawings on the plaster of the walls, giant gates and fragments of burnt
wood. But nothing yet has provided a definitive answer as to why the
structure was built, and excavation work continues.
Por-Bajin on the map of Uighur Kaganate. Picture: Irina Arzhantseva
'Por-Bajin is legally treated as one of the most mysterious
archaeological monuments of Russia,' says the official website for the
complex, about 3,800km from Moscow.
'Apparently it was built at the period of the Uighur Khagante nomadic
empire (744-840 AD), but it’s not clear what they built a fortress for
in such a solitary place, far from big settlements and trade routes.
'The architecture also produces many questions and it has reminders of a
model of an ideal Chinese city-palace.'
Por-Bajin, which translates as 'clay house' in the Tuvan language, is
located in the very centre of Eurasia, on the borders of Russia and
Mongolia. It sits on a small island in a lake high in the mountains
between the Sayan and Altai ranges, about five miles west of the
isolated Kungurtuk settlement in southern Siberia.
Laser mapping of the site prior to the first major excavation in 2007
helped experts build a 3D model of what the community might have looked
like. Despite its age, parts of the structure were well preserved when
archaeologists arrived to examine the 3.5 hectare site, with walls
clearly visible.
Outer walls standing 10 metres tall and 12 metres wide formed a
rectangular shape, creating what many have interpreted as a protective
kremlin-like fortress. A main gate was discovered, opening into two
successive courtyards connected by another gate.
Walls on the inside were smaller, at about one metre-tall, forming
the outline of buildings, with a large building in the centre of the
site. Some of the walls and panels were covered with lime plaster
painted with horizontal red striped.
The main complex in the inner courtyard had a two-part central
structure, one behind the other linked by a covered walkway. It had a
tiled roof and was supported by 36 wooden columns resting on stone
bases.
Construction materials, and the way the site is laid out, told the
experts it was built in a typically Chinese architectural tradition,
most likely in the second half of the eight century. Pictures: gdehorosho.ru, Irina Arzhantseva
Construction materials, and the way the site is laid out, told the
experts it was built in a typically Chinese architectural tradition,
most likely in the second half of the eight century.
'The building was most likely of the post-and-beam construction
characteristic of Chinese architecture from the T’ang Dynasty,' wrote
head archaeologist Irina Arzhantseva in a report published in The
European Archaeologist in 2011.
'Finds of burnt timber fragments point to the use of the typical
Chinese technique of interlocking wooden brackets, called dou-gung.
Ramps led down to the two flanking galleries which were roofed, open
spaces looking onto the access to the main pavilion.'
While debate continues about the use of Por-Bajin, there is growing
evidence it was a community or palace complex centred around a Buddhist
monastery. Certainly, there is an argument that its layout is typical of
the palaces of the Buddhist Paradises as depicted in T’ang paintings.
Books from the era also describe the existence of Uighur towns,
extensive building activities, and a transition from a nomadic to
sedentary lifestyle. Indeed, there may have been as many of 15 of these
settlements in Tuva alone, all square of rectangular shaped and enclosed
by walls with a main gate.
What puzzles the experts, however, is the lack of rudimentary heating
systems, particularly given that Por-Bajin sits at 2,300metres above
sea level and endures harsh Siberian weather.
Outer walls standing 10 metres tall and 12 metres wide formed a
rectangular shape, creating what many have interpreted as a protective
kremlin-like fortress. Pictures: 'Por-Bajin Fortress' foundation
If anything it suggests that the complex was only ever occupied for a
brief period of time, or was used as a seasonal home in the warmer
summer months. Some experts even say that the climate, or other natural
occurrences in the region, brought occupation of the site to an early
end in the 9th century.
Por-Bajin sits on a bed of permafrost with evidence that the melting
of this ice – as a result of warmer temperatures over the past century -
has caused not only a destruction of the walls, but a dramatic rise in
the depth of the lake water.
In the 2011 research paper, Irina Arzhantseva wrote: 'This situation
created a two-fold threat to the long-term survival of the site.
Thermokarst (melting of the permafrost) seems to undermine the stability
of the structures on the site, leading to collapse and decay; and frost
fissures are causing constant erosion of the banks of the island to
such an extent that it is estimated that the walls will start collapsing
into the lake in about 80 years.
'Archaeological and geomorphological fieldwork revealed traces of at
least two earthquakes which had accelerated the natural process of
deterioration. The first of these seems to have happened already during
the construction of the ‘fortress’ in the 8th century.
'It is not yet quite clear how long the buildings survived after the
abandonment of the site in the 9th century, but some time after the
abandonment there was another catastrophic earthquake which led to fires
and to the collapse of the southern and eastern enclosure walls, and
destroyed the north-western corner bastion.'
'The building was most likely of the post-and-beam construction
characteristic of Chinese architecture from the T’ang
Dynasty.' Pictures: Irina Arzhantseva, 'Por-Bajin Fortress' foundation
While debate on its origins will no doubt continue for decades, those
who have seen Por-Bajin are all in agreement about its beauty. In fact,
in many ways Russian president Vladimir Putin sums it up perfectly.
'I have been to many places, I have seen many things, but I have
never seen anything of the kind,' he said, following a visit to the
complex with Prince Albert of Monaco in 2007. Few could argue with that.
Posts
