The Serpent Ramparts in Ukraine: Fifty Years of Archaeological Research

Florin Curta

Abstract


Named after a folk tale first recorded in the nineteenth century, the Serpent Ramparts in the Ukraine have been thoroughly investigated archaeologically in the 1970s and 1980s. The results of the excavations clarified the chronology of the earthworks, but also revealed a sophisticated building technique employing timber structures. The relation of the dykes to neighbouring strongholds and especially open settlements have been the focus of the subsequent research. The dates initially advanced for the earthworks (late tenth to early eleventh century) may not apply to all surviving segments, but the initial impetus for the building of the Serpent Ramparts seems to have come from the Rus’-Pecheneg confrontations along the northern boundaries of the steppe belt in Eastern Europe.

Keywords


Ukraine; timber structure; stratigraphy; open settlements; strongholds

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23914/odj.v5i0.7730

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