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History of Town-Building in Old Rus' 6Th – Early 11Th

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History of Town-Building in Old Rus' 6Th – Early 11Th M.A. Sagaidak (in collaboration with V.V. Murasheva and B.Y. Petrukhina) HISTORY OF TOWN-BUILDING IN OLD RUS’ 6TH – EARLY 11TH CENTURIES The emergence of towns in Rus’ had certain original features, feature of Slavic dwellings; fireplaces were also common in the although there were also things in common with the history western areas , as were surface outhouses. of West European urbanisation in the Middle Ages. As crop farming progressed and the soil became depleted, Historians traditionally subdivide the European urban sys- the Slavs had to move on to new sites, so their dwellings usually tem into three zones associated with the boundaries of the former huddled close to one another. Ribbon building in their settle- Roman Empire. The internal zone centred on the Mediterranean ments was rarer. One example of the latter is Rashkov in the included southern France and Italy; the middle zone covered the middle reaches of the Dnieper, a large settlement of the 5th-7th territory between the Rhine and the Danube up to the geograph- cc. Selishches by rivers and lakes were the principle type of settle- ical boundaries of Roman urbanisation; the external zone, where ments in northern and north-western Rus’. Selishches with pole there were no Roman settlements, lay to the north-east. It is the houses and sunken fireplaces in the centre of dwellings prevailed latter that Old Rus’ belonged in. in the Krivichi lands in the upper reaches of the Dnieper and Urban life evolved in about the same manner within each on the Western Dvina. The Ilmen Slovens had surface log houses of the zones. Towns developed along similar lines in Britain and with stone stoves in the corner. One of the more noteworthy 6th- southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria in the middle zone. 7th cc. hillforts was the Zimno gorodishche, which stood on a head- During the Dark Ages following the fall of Rome that area saw land between two deep ravines on the high bank of the Luga primarily the re-use of Roman cities. Many of them did not func- River, a right tributary of the Bug 2 (its pyramid-shaped area was tion continuously but withered and re-emerged. Very few urban 135 x 64 x 14 m). It was protected on all sides by wooden walls entities can be said to exist uninterruptedly; one of them is Paris of stacked logs fastened by vertical posts, which were fortified at the site of the former Roman Lutetia, which became a capital by earthworks from the outside. The central part of the gorodishche city in 507 and throughout the subsequent centuries was the cen- was not built up. Remnants of long multi-cameral surface houses tre of royal and church rule, and also of crafts and trade. with fireplaces were found along the fortification walls. Archaeol- In the early centuries A.D. the cultures of the forest and ogists unearthed weapon fragments, silver and bronze ornaments, forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe had no direct contacts with household utensils and craftsmen’s tools at the site. the then civilisations, with the developed urban system, nor did Zimno could have been the administrative seat of the chief they have towns of their own. At the dawn of our age, at the time of a Slavic tribe (the Dulebs?) with his druzhina and a centre of the Zarubintsy culture, the area had both fortified settlements, of ironmongery and jewellery-making 3. According to another gorodishches (hillforts), and unfortified ones, selishches. version, it was a community center, with the long houses hosting They were small, with an area of up to 1.5 hectares and various assemblies of community members and providing refuge 5-12 dwellings and outbuildings each, and stood on high river- from armed invasions to people from nearby unfortified settle- banks. Promontory hillforts located at river confluences or eleva- ments (one of them found 250 m away from the gorodische). tions formed by rivers and ravines were escarped, that is, protect- The Tushemlya gorodishche in the upper reaches of the ed from the mainland side with earthworks and deep ditches. Sozh River (Smolensk Region) dated the 6th-7th cc. likely was Settlements were located close to one another in a sort a similar temporary haven. Its oval site measuring about 800 sq. of clusters, which is seen as a reflection of tribal structure. Dwell- m on a headland bordered by two ravines was protected on the ings and outbuildings were occasionally situated at different places perimeter by two earthworks with wooden fences on top. Three within the settlement. Dwellings were rectangular semi-dugouts more earthworks with similar wooden fences were raised from (averaging 4 by 4 metres) with a hearth in the centre. In the middle the mainland side. On the inside there was a long log structure reaches of the Dnieper the walls were frame-and-wattle, daubed backing onto the wall; it had a 4-4.5 m wide gable roof and was and whitewashed (as were those of Ukrainian cottages later). partitioned into 7-8 rooms, some of which had central fireplaces In the upper reaches the dwellings were different: the walls were lined with stones while the others were used for household needs. made of logs locked into the grooves of vertical posts. There must A sanctuary – a round pad with poles along the edge and a big have been log cabins as well. Roofing was made of straw or reeds pole in the center (for the chief idol?) was in the heart of the placed on posts, and root cellars were dug out next to dwellings. headland part of the gorodishche 4. As M.P. Kuchera has demon- Most of the numerous settlements of the Chernyakhov strated, gorodishches differed from the point of view of both layout (pre-Slavic) culture of the 3rd-5th cc. were unfortified. Just a few and purpose and/or functioning 5. For example, one of the safe gorodishches fortified with a ditch and earthworks from the main- haven gorodishches was Khotomel, an 8th-century settlement land side are known. They had stone structures, too. The late in the lower reaches of the Goryn River, a right tributary of the Scythian tradition was improved as defensive fortifications were Dnieper in its middle reaches. It consisted of the gorodishche per built. The design of the earthworks at the Bashmachka gorodish- se and a selishche with semi-dugouts and adobe stoves and had che in the lower riches of the Dnieper consisted of two stone walls a burial ground with funerary urns. The gorodishche site (30 x 40 with clay filling1 . m) is surrounded with a circular bank, a second arch-shaped bank The Alexandrovka gorodishche in the same area could have and a ditch. The fortified part was used as a temporary safe hav- towers in addition to earthworks with a stone wall. en, which is suggested by the lack of a cultural layer in the middle Selishches were usually built up in rows along river banks (up of the site. Remnants of a long surface public building were to one kilometre long and 80-100 m wide), and only rarely were found next to the bank, too, which suggests that the gorodishche was houses placed in two or three rows. There were long surface stone most likely a community centre. and wooden structures with a floor area of up to 40 sq. m . Those What is called sanctuary gorodishches have been discovered large houses similar to old German dwellings were divided into in various regions, including the Smolensk and Pskov areas, heated and unheated sections. They could be used to accommo- Polesie along the Pripyat River, and at the Rzhavintsy village date assemblies, prayer sessions, etc. Stone structures were pos- in Ukrainian Cis-Carpathian. Gorodishches with an area of under sibly food storages. They had double stone walls with the space 15 m in diameter that were not suitable for habitation and could between them filled with stone, too, making the whole up to 0.5 hardly have been used as safe havens must have performed the m thick. Another widespread type of dwelling was the semi-dug- functions of sanctuaries 6. The cultural layer is virtually absent out commonly found in Europe with piers and wattle and daub from such gorodishches, instead there are stone-paved ashpits (traces between them. Earth sleeping ledges or benches lined the walls. of fires with animal bones, etc.). Fires were also made on banks Kitchen middens or, occasionally, stoves (semi-spherical with and in ditches. The site of the 9th-10th century gorodishche at the a flat hearth) were arranged in wall openings; stone stoves were Rzhavintsy village is 23 m in diameter. It is surrounded by two found in western regions. However, simple centrally positioned concentric banks with paved spots for fire-making and two ditches fireplaces were more common. with low-sloped walls. Long (about 25 m) surface houses stood be- Settlements of the pra-Slavic Prague culture (5th-7th tween the banks, and fractured animal bones have been found in- cc.), spread over vast areas to the west and south of the Kievan side them. A crudely worked four-faceted stele stood in the centre Dnieper area, were mostly small selishches (0.5-1.5 ha), occasion- of the gorodishche; it must have been an object of worship, but wa ally headland gorodishches with semi-dugouts (of up to 20 sq. m) dumped into the ditch after the rites had been discontinued. Rites 1. Smilenko, 1982. having gable plank or straw roofs. Their walls were log or, more could also be performed in haven gorodishches, such as Khotomel.
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