GORODNYA – KYIV DEFENSIVE WALLS IN IX–XIII CENTURIES. PART THREE. ZABOROLA (UPPER PART OF A FORTRESS WALL)

Abstract

In the article, the author continues to investigate questions about the structural and functional features of the defence structures of the city of Kyiv in the IX-XIII centuries. He believes that when studying the fortifications of the times of Kievan Rus, it is necessary to consider them in unity with the tactics of siege and defence of that time. A proper understanding of the development of defence structures, their various types and constructions, cannot be achieved without considering these structures in terms of tactical principles and tactical requirements imposed on them in combat use.Based on the analysis of scientific literature, elaboration of chronicle and archaeological sources, the author concludes that the city defensive fortifications in the period under study were wooden bunk structures. The first tier consisted of hollow three- or four-walled gardens that formed the basis of the defensive wall. If the gardens were not clogged, they were used for various purposes (such as warehouses). The first tier of four-walled gardens could have several floors. The second tier of fortifications is a battlefield (forbidden) - a particular lightweight structure that allowed to shoot at the enemy from above and served to protect the soldiers who defended the walls. As the bans are not archaeologically presented, the author relies on written sources for their reconstruction. It identifies three main types of prohibitions. The first, the simplest type, consisted of a combat course (site) and a palisade or "shields" filled with vertically chipped boards, with a vertical archery gun cut through the field. The second, most common, type consisted of covered fighting. On the side of the field, it was protected by vertically mounted chipped boards with arrows and "doors", which opened stones, spears or poured boiling water. It was a light beam-pillar structure, covered with a sloping roof (with a steep slope on the side of the field). The third type of prohibitions consisted of a combat course, a solid gallery running from the side of the settlement, and structures made of four-walled cages and walls between them from horizontally laid logs - from the side of the field. A gable roof covered all this with a cantilever overhang over the gallery by the settlement.