A Wooden Church of the Twelfth Century in Podil, Kyiv, Ukraine
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A Wooden Church of the Twelfth Century in Podil, Kyiv, Ukraine Volodymyr Zotsenko Parts of an ancient street block dating back to the last quarter of the eleventh century and early twelfth century were investigated in a foundation pit for a new building in Kyiv, Ukraine, (3/7 Mezhyhirska-Khoryva, Str., in the Podil district of Kyiv, i.e. the Lower Town ) in the course of archaeological excavations conducted in 2003. Among the structures discovered on the street block were a previously unknown wooden church dated back to the twelfth century, and several domestic buildings and related features of the street block. Surviving chronicles from the Kyivan Rus’ period contained no references to this church. Archaeologists first became aware of this archaeological site in 1972, when a new underground subway line (Metro) was extended across the Podil or Lower Town district of Kyiv and the Metro Station “Chervona (Kontraktova) Square” was constructed between Geroyiv Trypillya (now Spaska) Street and Khoriva Street. The stratigraphy of the excavation in 1972 was characterized by thick alluvial and diluvial deposits containing ceramic sherds (dated back to the tenth century and the beginning of the eleventh century) at a depth of 8-9 meters below the present surface (absolute altitude: 103.00 Baltic Altitude Scale - BAS). Five log buildings of one messuage (urban houselot) were located under the deposit at a depth of 9.40 m (93.6 BAS), 10.28 m (92.72 BAS) and 10.78 m (92.22 BAS). Excavation covered only a part of the messuage located at a street corner. One of the streets went along the Pochayna-Dnipro River (general axis: north-south) and was 6 m wide; another one went from Zamkova Hora (Hill) to the Dnipro River (general axis: west-east) and was about 3 m wide. The log buildings of the messuage were located along the streets, limited by fences. The fences were built from vertically-set, closely-spaced oak planks 16-20 cm wide and up to 5 cm thick with pointed ends. The fence along the south-east side of the messuage (from Zamkova Hora to the Dnipro River) was exposed for a distance of 27 m (fig.1). The profiles of the course of a tributary of the Pochayna River were discovered at 15-20 m from the houselot towards the north-west. They were traced along the south-east and north-west walls of the Metro foundation pit at the levels of 2.7-2.6 m with the upper part up to 60 m wide. At the level of the construction horizons of the messuages excavated in 1972, the upper mark of this channel was at a point 8.7 m from the present surface; at that stage it measured 10 m wide and 3 m deep. Based on the general stratigraphical and landscape nature of the earliest horizons of the investigated area, this part of the Podil settlement area was defined by downward surface deviation towards the north- west from the present Spaska Street axis to the Verkhniy Val street axis. The average deviation of the ground surface from the south-east (Kontraktovyi House on Spaska Street) to the north-west 3413 (Мetro station exit “Kontraktova Square” towards Verkhniy Val Street on the left bank of the fixed river course) measured up to 4 m (Sahaydak, 1991, pp. 58-59, 60-61, 63-64, figs. 34, 35). Fig. 1 Plane of farmstead in Site II, Square 2, 1972 The excavations of 2003 were located approximately 22-25 m to the north-east along the narrower street excavated in 1972. According to a modern map of the city, the excavation was located at Khoryva-Mezhyhirska Streets crossing on a south-east to north-west axis from Spaska to Khoryva Streets. The south-west part of the new construction foundation pit bounded the Metro tunnel (Metro station “Kontraktova Square”); the north-west part bordered on Khoryva Street (fig.2). The excavations were carried out at the depth of 100.61-97.06 BAS, that is at a level 6.8-3.5 m higher than the first construction horizon investigated during the 1972 excavations. According to Sagaydak, the above figures correspond to the second cultural layer of this particular Podil area, deposited at a depth from 2 m to 6 m below the present surface. This layer is characterized by relatively thick alluvial and diluvial deposits of yellow-gray sand with clay inclusions followed by cultural layers. As to the chronology, it can be dated back to the last quarter of eleventh – third quarter of twelfth centuries (Sagaydak 2001, p.60-61). The total excavated area covered 450 m² and was divided into two sections. The first section was located in the north-west part of the foundation pit and made up more than 250 m2. It bordered to the east on the old street (fig.3). Rus’ artifacts and features were excavated at a depth of 100.61- 94.53 BAS, or 1.96-4.53 m below the present surface. In geomorphological terms, these alluvial 3414 and diluvial deposits were the result of increased seismic activity in the area over a period of more than three centuries (late ninth to early twelfth centuries), combined with frequent flooding of the Dnipro River and erosion of the hills above the riverside terrace on which the Podil settlement was located. The result was the deposition of more than 12 meters of alluvial and diluvial deposits over the settled portions of Podil, resulting in 14 separate episodes of destruction and reconstruction due to partial or total flooding and covering of the built-up portions of the terrace with up to one meter of sand and clay deposits per episode between the ninth and twelfth centuries (Sagaydak, M., 2004, p. 4). Fig. 2 Excavation plan of 2003 3415 Fig. 3 General plan of sites in Square 1, 2003 The wooden church discovered on this site is the earliest church structure in the history of archaeological investigations of Kyivan Rus’. On the east it was bordered by the fence line that defined the western part of the old street (3.3 m wide), while its south wall was partially outside the foundation pit. In addition to the church, several additional structures were discovered in this area. The remains of a framed building (4.5 x 4.0 m) that was oriented to the compass points were excavated in the western part of the foundation pit, near the north-west corner at a distance of 0.5 – 2 m from its western wall. The northern part of this structure was damaged by later excavations. The walls of this building were made of horizontal planks (20 cm wide) that were preserved in the form of a wood stain; a row of logs was discovered beneath this set 10 cm into the ground. Wooden logs in very poor condition were investigated near the south-west wall, closer to the western corner, at the floor level; the first log (1.25 x 0.3 m in size) had an oval hole (30 x 10 cm) on one end; the second one had a channel cut out measuring 1.05 x 0.15 m. These logs possibly represented the doorway of a building. A post hole (35 cm deep) was observed in the south corner and a rectangular pit (25 x 15 cm in size) was excavated in the western corner. A sand floor was found at the level of 2.12 m from the present surface. The building was filled with light-grey humus containing ceramic sherds dated back to the middle of the eleventh – first quarter of the twelfth centuries. Based on the artifacts available, the building’s function can be defined as a “komora”, or a storage building or outbuilding of some sort. Another building that performed a similar function and was defined by an oval pit (2.63 x 1.30 m) was excavated at a distance of 2 m from the church wall towards the north at a depth of 98.81 BAS. The pit did not appear to perform any construction functions. Its filling consisted of coloured sandy soil with the inclusions of humus, ceramic sherds, and animal bones. The row of logs associated with the structure are dated back to the twelfth century. Based on this, it is assumed that the pit performed the function of a cesspool. 3416 The investigation of the second section covered the north and north-east parts of the foundation pit at a distance of 18-22 m northwards from the north-west border of the previous section (fig.4). Similar to Square I, the eastern border of the investigated area was represented by the above mentioned street. The total investigated area is 200 m2. Old Rus’ cultural layers were observed at a depth of 97.75 – 97.05 BAS (this corresponded to 4.15 - 4.85 m below the present surface). The remains of three messuages located along the old street were excavated on this section of the site. Two of the messuages were divided by a fence that ran perpendicular to the street. Fig. 4 General plan of sites in Square II, 2003 Building № 3 can be considered the central one among the other buildings of the messuages. It was a part of the northeast homestead “B” and was located in the northern part of the foundation pit; its western wall was adjacent to the fence along the eastern part of the street. It was a log house measuring 5 m x 5 m in size and with the logs’ ends extending beyond the joint up to 25-44 cm.