THE DEFENSIVE STRUCTURES OF RATNO CASTLE ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF RECENT RESEARCH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37445/adiu.2026.03.10Keywords:
hillfort, castle, starostwo, Ratno, defensive structures.Abstract
The defensive structures of Ratno Castle are analyzed in the paper. It was placed on the border between the Volhynian Land and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Ratno Castle was for a long time the capital, first of a small principality, and later of a starostwo. At various times, Ratnо held Magdeburg rights, was a privately owned castle, and functioned as a royal city. The settlement reached its peak of prosperity in the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries, and most written sources relate to this period; yet information regarding the layout and planning of Ratnо Castle remains quite limited. Archaeological research on the hillfort in Ratne was carried out in the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries though it was restricted to mapping and test pitting. To date, the best-known plan of the hillfort is the one compiled by Pavlo Rappoport in 1960. Subsequent surveys of the site by archaeologists confirmed the accuracy of this plan and documented damage to the surface of the site caused by plowing. During the development of the Historical and Architectural Plan of the village of Ratne, a topographic survey of the hillfort was conducted, and the adjacent areas of the open settlement were examined. A comparison of the plans from 1960 and 2026 revealed that one part of the site remains identical, while casting doubt on the existence of another. To clarify the reasons for this, both drawings were scaled and compared. The results revealed that the main courtyard (fortification) had been recorded accurately and without errors. In contrast, the elevated part (mound) was depicted within the Pripyat River floodplain and has left no visible traces. Today, the existence of this part of the settlement remains a matter of debate. An open settlement, referred to in written sources as a town, was surveyed around the hillfort. It surrounds the castle’s defensive structures and is bounded on three sides by the Mlyniv Channel. A collection of pottery fragments was gathered from the surface, primarily consisting of the wheel-thrown pots of 16th—17th-century.
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