GORODNYA – KYIV DEFENSIVE WALLS IN IX–XIII CENTURIES. PART ONE. RAMPARTS

Abstract

The article examines the issues of structural and functional features of ground shafts as a component of defensive structures of the city of Kyiv IX – XIII centuries. Based on a detailed analysis of the scientific literature on the problem and the available written sources, materials of archaeological research, scientific and hypothetical reconstruction of urban defensive fortifications of the Slavs of a certain time, as well as the experience of reproduction of the fortifications of medieval Europe in the territory of modern Ukraine, Poland and Denmark, it is suggested to own the evolution of the earthen fortifications of.The author denies the widespread idea about the widespread development in the Ancient Rus in the ninth and thirteenth centuries defence structures, which were a complex timber structure that consisted of a reinforced earth shaft and wooden fortifications of various kinds above it. It is argued that the division of earth shaft structures into "complex" (tree-reinforced) and "simple" (non-reinforced) types are erroneous. According to the author, the reinforcement of earth shafts at the beginning of their erection was never performed. It has been concluded that, first, virtually all earthen shafts and their wooden structures, which functioned for a long time, were not preserved in their original form; second, the fortification builders of that time did not have the proper education to design and construct such structures. In the course of construction, they were guided by their own experience and circumstances; therefore, "complex shaft type structures" are not the product of a single design; they are the result of multiple repairs and remodelling of initially low timber fortifications; thirdly, the complexity of the fortifications was influenced solely by the duration of the active functioning of the monument.The article is accompanied by numerous illustrative material, including the author's reconstructions of the evolution of tree-walled defensive walls and methods of their strengthening at various stages of construction.