Nikolay A. Makarov
Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow, Russia (nmakarov10@yandex.ru)
Keywords: medieval towns, Northeast Rus, urban habitation sites, medieval settlements, palaeodemographic reconstructions, urban plots.

This paper provides the data on the size of the towns of Northeast Rus in the 11th – the first half of the 13th century AD elaborated from the record of recent fieldwork. The methodology of distinguishing urban territories including not only the fortified part of a settlement but the areas with occupation deposit outside the fortifications identified as a result of fieldwork as well is discussed. The size of urban territories of the second half of the 12th – the first half of the 13th century AD varies from 4–7 (Yaropolch and Gorokhovets) to 90–200 (Gorodets Radilov, Vladimir and Rostov) ha. The total area with occupation deposit of the 12th –13th century recorded by fieldwork in the towns of Northeast Rus occupies about 840 ha. Given the imperfection of the archaeological record, the number may be changed to 1200–1300 ha. The new materials substantiate the observation that the second half of the 12th – early 13th century AD saw the urbanization of Northeast Rus involving a considerable increase in the number of towns, the expansion of urban territories and the formation of specific cultural traditions alien to rural settlements.