On the issue of studying the traditional settlements and dwellings of the Karakalpaks

At the present stage, society needs the affirmation of values, panhuman ideals and guidelines that contribute to its spiritual and moral uplift. Ethnographic science plays one of the defining roles in this, and studies peoples-ethnoses and other ethnic formations, their origin (ethnogenesis), structure, settlement, cultural and community features, as well as their material and spiritual culture. Dwellings and settlements are one of the components of the traditional material culture of the Karakalpaks, which reflect in a certain aspect the ethnic territory, climatic conditions, types of farms, and spirituality of the people. The study of the history of settlements and dwellings of the Karakalpaks of the Southern Aral Sea region allows us to consider the types of settlements, dwellings, social order and other issues of the XIX-early XX centuries of the Karakalpaks’ history on a specific material.