SCYTHIAN TIME HILLFORTS NEAR VORHOL VILLAGE IN PUTIVL REGION OF SEIM RIVER BASIN (by the results of 2023 exploration)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37445/adiu.2024.02.12Keywords:
hillfort, settlement, Scythian period, Zarubyntsi culture, Seim river.Abstract
Two hillforts and settlements in the Vyshneva Hora tract are located on the high right bank of the Kleven River, a tributary of the Seim. The first archaeological excavations were carried out here in 1949 by D. T. Berezovets. Unfortunately, the material of the Early Iron Age was published only partially.
As a result of the work in 2023, 152 m2 were excavated. Excavation areas have been made at the Eastern Vorhol hillfort and settlement. Spectacular materials were discovered. First of all, it concerns ceramics. The hand-made ware was divided into two groups. The first one is characterized by puncture ornamentation of the pots, and the dough contains impurities of fine grit. The second group is characterized by decorations in the form of notches along the edge of the rim and fireclay impurities. The second group prevails, especially among the settlement materials. There are isolated finds of ceramics with both chamotte and grit in the fabric.
Several stages of settlement can be preliminarily distinguished. It was first inhabited in the middle — second half of the 6th century BC and ceased to exist in the middle of the 5th century BC. It was at this time that ceramics with characteristic punctures were used. The finds of a bronze arrowhead and a bimetallic pin belong to this period. After a certain period of time, approximately in the 4th — early 3rd centuries BC, the settlement was inhabited for the second time. So far, it has not been possible to reliably confirm the correctness of this period. And for the third time, the cape was inhabited by tribes of the Zarubyntsi culture, which happened no earlier than the late 3rd century BC.
An important fact was the discovery of a part of the moat surrounding the settlement. Its depth reached 1.1 m and its width was at least 5 m. The available material suggests that the settlement and the Eastern hillfort existed simultaneously from the 4th century BC to at least the 3rd or 2nd century BC. The findings of Greek amphorae fragments are important for determining the terminus post quem, and the findings of iron arrowheads of the Sarmatian period are important for determining the terminus ante quem. The proposed chronological distribution due to the scarcity of material should be considered preliminary. The work planned for the future will allow us to significantly refine it.
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