Archaeologists from the Davniy Plisnesk Historical and Cultural Reserve have completed this year’s research on the area beyond the rampart of the fifth defensive line of the ancient hillfort, which dates back to the 9th–10th centuries.
Specialists have examined in detail the annex to the rampart. According to their conclusions, this structure served a defensive purpose. During the work they uncovered traces of what is likely a wooden floor, fragments of 10th-century ceramics, a three-edged arrowhead and animal bones.
In the course of the excavations, they also uncovered the remains of an outbuilding and a dwelling dating to the 11th–13th centuries. Among the finds were fragments of ceramic vessels from various periods, the blades of two knives, a door key, a fragment of glazed floor tile and a boratynka coin.
Researchers note that the nature of the materials discovered indicates that the defensive structure was backfilled at the end of the 10th century, during Prince Volodymyr Sviatoslavych’s campaign against the Croats.
«We did not expect to find traces of what is likely a floor laid on split wooden logs. The timber itself has not survived, but the longitudinal grey streaks on the floor of the structure point precisely to its existence», the reserve reported.