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Nearby the village of Lapas in the Astrakhan region, there is a complex of Golden Horde mausoleums. In 2022, 2023 the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences continued the comprehensive studies of this site. The results of the excavations allowed: to identify part of the mausoleum structures (brick floor, coated with alabaster mortar); to confirm information about the dismantling of the building walls for bricks; correct the interpretation of magnetometry data. In 2022, the mausoleum complex was photographed using an aerial laser scanning. A digital elevation model (DEM) was created, the analysis of which allowed us to assume the presence of previously unknown mausoleums. In 2023, using magnetometry, the remains of several complexes, probably structures made of raw bricks on the same site, were recorded, which can be divided into groups according to orientation. The results obtained confirm the presence of an unknown number of objects of this monument that have not yet been identified, and outline ways for further studies.

A large number of large settlements of the XIII–XV centuries are known in the Lower Volga region. Some of them have been identified as Golden Horde cities with names that are beyond doubt. Some of the sites have only a modern archaeological designation – ancient settlements, and the issue on their names has not been definitively resolved to date. This primarily concerns the capital cities of the Golden Horde. It is difficult to finally resolve this issue on the basis of available archaeological materials and written sources. However, the scientific information accumulated to date allows us to propose an author's historical and archaeological reconstruction of the structure of the Lower Volga center of the Golden Horde.

In 2023, the research activities of the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences were carried out in three scientific fields. In 2023 the work on preparation and publication of the collective monograph "Archaeology of the Volga-Urals" in 7 volumes was completed. As part of the implementation of the state program of the Republic of Tatarstan, comprehensive scientific and safety and rescue studies were conducted in the regions of the Russian Federation, as well as in Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The formation of an information geographic system has been continued. The work with collections of the Museum of Archaeology of the Republic of Tatarstan is being successfully carried out. An important part of the Institute's activity is the training of highly qualified personnel under postgraduate programs with further defense of theses, advanced training within the international archaeological schools. The Institute carries out expert international activities on the inclusion of archaeological sites in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, in particular such archaeological heritage sites as Denisova Cave (Altai region), Tanais (Rostov region).

The purpose of the study: The paper presents the results of comprehensive archaeological studies on the largest necropolis of the Golden Horde elite in the Ulus of Jochi – Lapas complex of mausoleums. A critical analysis of the information from written sources, materials, obtained during the studies in 1995-1997 and archaeological works on the Lapas complex in 2018-2022, were carried out. Research materials: The materials of topographic works carried out by the Volga Archaeological Expedition IA RAS in 1995-1997 and the data of decryption of remote sensing of the Earth, got by specialists of the Progress Rocket Space Centre in 2013, were used. The results of magnetometric and geodetic studies, conducted at the Lapas complex of mausoleums in 2018-2022, are presented. The results of the first archaeological excavation, conducted in order to study the stratigraphy and planography of the buried site (mausoleum No. 1), are shown. The analysis of the numismatic collection from the site is presented. Results and scientific novelty: Interdisciplinary research, held on the Lapas mausoleum complex, including topographic, geophysical, geodetic and archaeological works, allowed to make a number of assumptions and conclusions about the time of creation, activity and destruction of the complex, its general structure and design features, the potential of the archaeological site, its role and significance in the culture of the Golden Horde. The presented scientific research is pioneering, as earlier comprehensive studies of such level on archaeological sites of the Golden Horde period were not conducted.

The Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences has been actively cooperating with scientific centres and universities of the Republic of Uzbekistan since 2022. One of the fields of cooperation is the implementation of the scientific and educational project "Bolgar International Archaeological School". The support of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (Samarkand, Uzbekistan) and the successful implementation of the scientific and educational project served as the beginning of closer and fruitful cooperation. In March 2023, jointly with Termez State University, an interdisciplinary study of the archaeological heritage site "Palace of Termezshahs", dating from the XI–XII centuries, was carried out. In May-June 2023, archaeological studies were conducted together with the Nukus State Pedagogical Institute named after Ajiniyaz on the Khaivan-Kala fortified settlement of the VII–X centuries. Within the scientific and educational cooperation at Termez State University, specialists of the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov RT implemented an additional professional training programme "Geoinformation technologies and non-destructive methods".

The paper addresses the issue of the composition of sphero-conical vessel manufacturing traditions in the Golden Horde Bolgar. It features the results of a comprehensive study of a series of spherical cones, including the typology of the vessels and the technology of their manufacture. The heterogeneous composition of the traditions of designing and shaping of various types of products has been identified. The set of technologi­cal skills of spherical cone manufacture corresponds to the skill set of the artisan potters engaged in the mass production of circular ware (ceramics of the 1st all-Bolgar group) in Bolgar. Vessels of the early type were first manufactured in Bolgar in the early Golden Horde period in the workshops of the piedmont area of the city, and the vessels of the later type - in the Late Golden Horde period in the workshops of Lake Gollandskoe area. The tradition of the common use of both types of slightly oversanded clay, often with a large number of various ferruginous inclusions, by potters during the manufacture of spherical cones has been recorded. This circumstance confirms the specificity of this category of vessels, associated with the special concepts of the potters concerning the original plastic raw materials and their mining locations.

The publication features the results of archaeological studies at Uvek settlement and its neighbouring area conducted by the Institute of Archaeology named after A. Kh. Khalikov of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan in 2018–2019. During archaeological exploration, Uvek settlement was investigated in order to localize the territory of the distribution of the cultural layer, and a new instrumental topographic plan of Uvek settlement was compiled with references to the excavation sites. Two new archeological monuments were localized in the vicinity of the medieval city of Ukek, which are Uvek I settlement and Aleksandrovskoye I settlement of the mid-13th – 14th centuries, their topographic plans were compiled, the thickness of the cultural layer and the boundaries of the distribution of the archaeological cultural layer of settlements were determined.

The paper discusses the results of magnetometric studies on the complex of Khan mausoleums near the village of Lapas in Astrakhan Oblast conducted in 2018–2022. A brief prehistory of the monument is outlined, information about the complex of mausoleums in medieval cartography and written sources is provided, and details of the archaeological studies of the archaeological site are presented. The methods of studying, processing and presentation of the results of geophysical studies and geodetic works are described. The results of magnetometric studies at mausoleums No. 1 and No. 4 are given, which made it possible to identify numerous buried objects related to medieval funerary architecture, necropolis and production of building material at each mausoleum complex. Conclusions are drawn about the number, purpose and condition of the preserved structures and buildings, and their estimated dimensions. An assumption based on magnetometry data is made about two periods of operation of the investigated part of the mausoleum complex No. 1, where numerous structures of an earlier stage of existence are recorded, overlapped by the building and fence of mausoleum No. 1. The necessity, expediency and effectiveness of the use of non-contact study methods at large archaeological sites are demonstrated.

The research activities of the Institute were carried out in four fundamental and three applied fields. Significant territories of the Republic of Tatarstan were studied to identify cultural heritage sites in 2021. In the framework of the implementation of the state program of the Republic of Tatarstan “Preservation of the National Identity of the Tatar people (2020–2024)”, work was carried out in the Astrakhan, Volgograd, Ryazan and Saratov Oblasts, and the Republic of Kalmykia. In addition to studies in the Russian Federation, two reconnaissance field trips were made by the Central Asian team of the Institute to the hillforts of the Chüy Valley in the Kyrgyz Republic. The Institute annually publishes two academic peer-reviewed journals: The Volga River Region Archaeology and Archaeology of the Eurasian Steppes. The defenses of theses at the Thesis Board under the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan in the field of History and Archaeology were important events in 2021.

The paper features a review of the book AZERBAIJAN ON THE SILK ROAD. Baku: “Tahsil” Publ., 2020, 384 p., prepared and published in the Republic of Azerbaijan under the guidance of Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Sh.M. Mustafayev and a group of scientists represented by archaeologists, architects and orientalist historians. This group of authors was able to clearly demonstrate the deep influence of the Silk Road on the centuries-old history of Azerbaijan. The abundance of illustrations provides a clear understanding of the Silk Road routes in the territory of Azerbaijan in various historical periods, allowing to familiarize with the main objects of material culture imported and exported along the Silk Road routes at various historical stages of its operation. The publication demonstrates the role of cultural relations having formed because to the Silk Road in the development of the infrastructure of the ancient and medieval Azerbaijan cities.