THE DWELLING OF ZARUBYNTSI CULTURE IN THE SETTLEMENT YALIVSHCHYNA 1 ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF CHERNIHIV

Abstract

The material from dwelling of the Zarubyntsy culture, discovered during 1993 excavation in the Yalivshchyna 1 settlement on the outskirts of Chernihiv, is published in the paper. This site is one of the few in the Lower Desna River region that contains material from the La Tиne period. The structure is rectangular in plan, measuring 6 Ч 7 m, with a depth of 0.3 m from the virgin soil level and a post-and-beam wall construction, most likely, destroyed by fire. In spite of the absence of a trace of heating device, the structure can confidently be classified as residential based on the shape, dimensions, quantity, and variety of the finds. A large number of fragments of coarse handmade kitchenware and burnished tableware, as well as two miniature pots, have been found in the trench filling. During the post-excavation elaboration three complete profiles of burnished bowls were reconstructed, and three more were reconstructed up to two-thirds of their height. Additionally, one complete coarse handmade kitchen pot and more than a dozen upper parts of similar vessels were reconstructed. Apart from the pottery a bronze pin with a ring-shaped head, a rhomboid plate with notches along the perimeter, and three rings (possibly from a chain) were found in damaged condition. Based on the ceramic complex the structure is attributed to the Upper Dnieper variant of the Zarubyntsy culture and dates to the first half of the 1st cent. BC (the second phase of the Chaplin burial ground, according to A. M. Obolonsky). Similar materials have been found at the Titova Richka settlement, located 7 km northwest of Chernihiv. The obtained material contribute to the source base for further research on the historical processes that took place in Lower Desna basin during the La Tиne period.