SACRED AREAS OF SOUTHEAST OF KYIV-PODIL (XI–XIII CENTURIES)

Abstract

The article is devoted to sacred areas located in the south-eastern part of Old-Rus Podil district. This area has remained poorly investigated for a long time compared to other areas of this OldKyiv region. Archaeological researches of period 2007–2015 greatly expanded our understanding of the south-eastern part of old Podil. In this paper, we tried to reconstruct the sacred loci of this territory. In the tenth century, Kyiv consisted of a populated town – a large coastal area – Podil and of small sacral-administrative part – Detinets on Zamkova Hill and the necropolis on the Old Kyiv Hill. Due to active development of a new city in the days of the reign of Vladimir son of Svyatoslav and his son Yaroslav the Wise, inhabitants of Podil, now Christians, have had to look for another place to bury their dead. They were forced to look for areas in the territory without mass urban development. Henceforth cemeteries are beginning to play a significant role in shaping the structure of the medieval town of Kyiv-Podil. Several cemeteries were located at the extreme points of the settlement area, which, due to waterlogging and flood threats were unsuitable for life. It was proposed to use the term to define such cemeteries in the structure of ancient Podil – “outlying cemeteries”. Three of these cemeteries and one single burial excavated in the south-eastern part of ancient Podil. Cemeteries found on the Naberezhno- Khreschatytska, 1-а str. and Naberezhno-Khreschatytska, 9 str. belong to the earliest Podol burial grounds, their active functioning on the XI century. The cemetery opened in 2015 at the Postal Square and burial of women (Petra Sagaydachnogo str., 6-в ) belong to another chronological period. They date back to the XII – the first half of the XIII century. Recent studies have shown that a sufficiently large area in the south-eastern outskirts of Old-Rus Podil were unsuitable for settlement and so they are often used for a cemetery.

Keywords

• Old Rus, Kyiv Podil, funeral rites, accompanying equipment, stratigraphy