Architecture in ancient times

The population of some of the settlements of By-Kazan tribes reached 300-500 people.

The first settlements on the territory of the modern Kazan appeared in the Bronze Age, that is in the II century B.C. They were found not far from Poluzhnaya Street, near the village Savinovo and at the old railway station. Such settlements were mainly situated in lowlands, near lakes and rivers. These were unprotected from enemies tribal settlements, that consisted of earth-houses connected with each other by narrow sheltered passages. A fireplace and a plank bed of earth – that was the furniture of such houses. In the centre of the house or at the walls there was a fireplace used for cooking and warming the house. Later earth-houses were replaced by semi-earth houses with wooden frames.

The houses of Anansky people were rather interesting – as a rule it was an earth-house 2-3 meters wide with wooden columns in the corners that were used to support the boards of the ceiling. On the ceiling there was a layer of earth about 30 cm thick. The entrance faced the river and such houses looked like sand-martin nests.

In the 1880-s V.I. Zausailov collected several flint tools in the northern part of the village Savinovo; and in 1965 A.H.Khalikov investigated this area and found a new cultural stratum and new material that proved the age of this ancient settlement - VIII-V centuries B.C.

Obviously the first permanent settlement appeared in the late Stone Age. One of such settlements was found near Bakalda – the dam leading to the Kazan loading dock. People that lived there till the III century B.C. occupied the top flood-lands of the rivers Volga and Kazanka; some of  their settlements found near villages Kukushkino, Bolshie Otary, Borovoe Matushino are well-known. One of the recent finds – is the settlement on the territory of Kazan University.