THE NEW EXPLORATION OF «ZAMOK» HILL-FORT NEAR LYTOVEZH VILLAGE AT VOLYN

Abstract

The main work was carried out on the northwestern edge of the Castle site, where a trench of 10 Ч 1 m and 1.6 m deep, cut through the cultural layers. The most important result of the examination of trench walls was the absence of clearly defined signs of bulk earth defense structures in its western (closer to the ditch) section. Although the presence of several stratigraphic distinct soil layers here can be considered as a sign of its large-scale movement no earlier than the 14^th century.

Along the entire trench the finds of funnel-shaped pottery culture, the Early Iron Age, the Old Rus, and the Late Middle Age have occurred.

On «Pidzamche», in its southeastern — highest — part a massif of brick masonry was discovered. The top of the masonry was at a depth of 0.8 m from the level of the modern day surface. The width of the masonry massif was 1.15 m, the height depended on the number of preserved rows of bricks in individual sections. The object is oriented along the south-north line.

It was established that the masonry massif was inserted into the humous cultural layer, while the layer of construction debris (clay or destructured opoka) at a depth of 1.3 m from the level of the modern day surface was obviously the horizon from which the trench for the masonry massif (foundation) was dug. At the same time, it did not reach the level of the virgin soil but laid on a humous cultural layer.

There were no whole bricks in the masonry, but only fragments, the size of which was close to half of its size. Masonry included large pieces of masonry, and not only inside the massif, but also on its outer surface. A large part of the brick had traces of strong limestone mortar, indicating its reuse. Masonry was made on a clay mortar.

Based on the measurements of 55 brick fragments, the approximate parameters of each brick were established. The width of the brick was up to 12—13 cm, the thickness up to 7.5—8 cm. Taking into account the parameters of the brick fragments, the nature of their dough and firing, as well as the presence of longitudinal grooves on the surface, such a brick can be dated to the 14^th—15^th centuries.

Thus, the research made it possible to establish a number of new circumstances of the archaeology and ancient history of Litovezh. No significant earthen fortifications were recorded in the area of the Castle explored by the trench. Probably, it was similar to the fortified courtyards of the Chortoryjski in the ancestral estate and Zhukov with small artificial wooden and earthen fortifications. On the other hand, it was confirmed the presence here of the layer of funnel-shaped pottery culture with a lot of findings which can be considered as evidence of the presence of a fortified settlement on the cape already in the Copper Age.

The discovered monolith of brickwork is made of reused material of the 14^th—15^th centuries and according to the available signs it may be a fragment of the foundation of a monumental structure, possibly the Vvedenska Church.

A surprise became the discovery of a previously unknown long positive form of relief with a dimple on the side of the cape slope, located at the level of the floodplain. In the case of confirmation of the defensive purpose of this object and its corresponding dating, we will get a radically new picture of the fortifications of the old Litovezh. P. Kuchera knew about the Lytovezh II settlement; he included it into a catalog of Slavic-Rus settlements but did not define its place in his classification of fortified sites. And this is no wonder because the conducted work has not yet found the archaeological confirmation of the existence of a fortification here in the Old Rus period. Obviously, this is evidence of the extraordinary intuition of a prominent scholar.

At the same time, the geomorphological processes that today cut off the cape part of the hill-fort from the terrace above flood plain and turn it into a remnant, are a rare example of the evolution of flood plain landscapes that were used in the construction of hill-forts. In this example in nature one can see how the topographic basis was formed for the arrangement of a separate type of hill-forts on remnant-like capes, identified by M. P. Kuchera.