Mikhail Artamonov (historian)
Mikhail Illarionovich Artamonov was a Soviet and Russian historian and archeologist, who came to be recognized as the founding father of modern Khazar studies.
Mikhail Artamonov in his student years
The site of the Khazar fortress of Sarkel, which was discovered and excavated by Artamonov in the 1930s.
Sarkel was a large limestone-and-brick fortress in what is now Rostov Oblast of Russia, on the left bank of the lower Don River.
Aerial photo of the excavations conducted at Sarkel in the 1930s.
Turkic Tamgas on some of the bricks from Sarkel