A. G. DYACHENKO'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF OLD RUSSIAN AND «NEW» TIME MONUMENTS IN BELGOROD REGION

The history of the territory of the modern Belgorod region has more than one thousand years. Human settlements appear here already in the period known to scientists as the "Stone Age". The city of Belgorod, which first became a provincial (1727) and then a regional (1954) center, was founded at the end of the XVI century. Local historians, as well as researchers from different parts of our country, played a significant role in studying the history of the Belgorod region. One of these researchers was the archaeologist A. G. Dyachenko.

Alexander Grigoryevich Dyachenko is an archaeologist from Belgorod and Kharkov, who conducted research on the territory of two regions in the last quarter of the XX century. - the beginning of the XXI century. Under his leadership, a large number of archeological monuments were examined, excavations were carried out on some of them. He explored the ancient Russian fortresses near the ss. Khotmyzhsk and Krapivnoye, examined the fortified lines of the XVII century. - Belgorod and Izyum defensive lines, studied the cultural layer of the city of Belgorod. Alexander Grigoryevich took part in the creation of the “Code of Archaeological Monuments of the Belgorod Region” and the compilation of an archaeological map of the Belgorod Region.

For A. G. Dyachenko, the first large ancient Russian settlement in the Belgorod region, where stationary archaeological work was carried out, was Khotmyzhskoe.

Modern Khotmyzhsk is a village located in the Borisovsky district in the west of the modern Belgorod region at the confluence of the Rogoznaya and Vorskla rivers. But a few centuries ago it was the ancient Russian city of Khotmysl, known from the "List of Russian cities far and near" (1375-1381) and located at the southern outskirts of modern Khotmyzhsk on a high cape on the right bank of the river. Vorskla [3, p. 188]. As Alexander Grigorievich notes, “During this period, Hotmysl was the center of the feudal development of the upper reaches of the Vorskla, as well as a powerful fortress on the southeastern border of Rus' [8, p. 82].”

The work of the Slavic-Russian archaeological expedition of KhGIK and BSPI under the leadership of A. G. Dyachenko on the archaeological study of the settlement began in 1983 and was continued in 1990-1992. In the course of the study, part of the citadel (877 m²) was studied and 216 m² were uncovered in the roundabout town. The finds found during the research made it possible to trace the history of the development of the monument. Thus, the lower layer, judging by the finds, dates back to the XVIII-XV centuries. BC e., which allowed Alexander Grigorievich to conclude that there was an unfortified settlement here in the Bronze Age [4, p. 4]. In the upper strata, layers of the Romny (IX-XI centuries), and Old Russian (XII-XIII centuries) cultures, as well as the medieval (XIV-XV centuries) and the layer dating from the New Age (XVII-XX centuries) can be traced. The finds of mass material (ceramics, nails, etc.) and traced on citadel ditches related to the reconstruction of the Khotmyzhsk fortress in 1640, 1650, and 1678, which was part of the Belgorod defensive line, point to the cultural layer of the New Age. In 2012 and 2018 A. A. Bozhko and T. M. Aliyev carried out work on drawing up a plan of the fortress, photographed and took the coordinates of the boundaries of the turning points of the archaeological heritage site.

One of the periods in the history of Hotmyzhsk was its formation as a fortress in the chain of defensive structures in the "Polish ukraine" of the Russian kingdom in the XVII century. In Russian historiography, this defensive line was called the Belgorod Line. As V.P. Zagorovsky explains: “The Belgorod line is a fortified line in the south of the Russian state, on the invasion routes of the Crimean and Nogai Tatars. Created in the middle of the XVII century, it included fortress cities, various engineering structures made of earth and wood, as well as natural obstacles for the Tatar cavalry: forests, rivers, swamps.

The Belgorod line passed from the river. Vorskla - a tributary of the Dnieper, where until 1654 the border of the Russian state with Poland was located, to the river. Chelnova - a tributary of the Tsna, on the territory of five modern regions: Sumy, Belgorod, Voronezh, Lipetsk and Tambov [9, p. 3].

As part of the preparation of the "Code of Archaeological Monuments of the Belgorod Region" by the expedition, which included A. G. Dyachenko, I. T. Shatokhin, V. M. Ryapolov, archaeological reconnaissance was carried out on 12 defensive sites of the Line: Volnovsky (Ukraine), Khotmyzhsky, Karpovsky, Bolkhovetsky, Belgorodsky, Nezhegolsky, Korochansky, Yablonovsky, Novooskolsky, Verkhososensky, Userdsky and, partially, Olshansky (all - the Russian Federation). The total length of the surveyed sections was 415 km. Remains of fortifications were found on 7 out of 11 built in the 17th century. fortified cities. Also, 21160.8 m of linear fortifications (a rampart and a ditch) were recorded. In addition, 4 redoubts, 3 earthen foundations of wooden towers, 3 caponier-type fortifications, 2 bastion-type fortifications, 2 flushes, 3 rondels, 2 exits in the field protected by ramparts, 1 quadrangular earthen town, 1 redan-type ledge, 1 cannon rumble were found [10, p. 35]. As a result of the work carried out, the safety of the fortifications was assessed and the issue of conservation of the remains of defensive structures and acceptance under the protection of the state. After the work carried out from 1990 to 1993, there has been an increase in attention to the Belgorod line both among historians and local historians, and among professional archaeologists. So, in the first two decades of the XXI century. on the territory of the Belgorod, Voronezh, Lipetsk and Tambov regions, several times more archaeological work was carried out on the monuments related to the Line than in the XX century.

During the 1993-94 field season. as part of the preparation of the "Code ...", the Slavic-Russian archaeological expedition for the first time examined one of the defensive sections of the Izyum line (a defensive line erected at the last stage of the Russian-Turkish war (1673-1681) on the territory of modern Kharkov (Ukraine) and Belgorod (RF) regions), called "Polatovsky shaft", which was divided by Alexander Grigorievich into three sections: Malo-Bykovsky, Kotlyarovsky, Livensky.

In the process of work, 27,085 m were explored, of which 15,100 m (55.7%) are linear fortifications. In addition to the rampart and the ditch, counterscarps, the base of the tower, cannon rumble, “teeth” (protrusions of the rampart towards the enemy), flushes were revealed. The researcher notes that only the rampart and ditch, “teeth”, towers appear in written sources. Also, A. G. Dyachenko concludes that Russian engineers skillfully used the terrain.

The village of Krapivnoye arose during the development of the territory of the "Field" by the Russian kingdom in the late XVI - early XVII centuries, when the construction of fortress cities began, which formed the basis of the Belgorod line. But this place was a success even before the indicated events. This fact can be confirmed by the remains of the fortifications that belonged to the ancient Russian settlement, located on the northwestern outskirts of the settlement. The study of this settlement was urgently convened, in connection with the decision of the Churaevskaya rural administration to give the plowed area of ​​the roundabout city for the construction of private houses, which would lead to the complete loss of the monument, the Slavic-Russian archaeological expedition, headed by A. G. Dyachenko [7, p. 3].

Stationary studies were carried out in 1995 and 2003. During two field seasons, archaeological work was carried out on the territory of the roundabout city. So, the fortified part of the settlement was pitted and the deposits of one of the Scythian (Yukhnovskaya), Romny and Old Russian cultures were traced. The data obtained allowed Alexander Grigorievich to conclude that "Krapivnoe`s settlement is the northernmost Slavic settlement known in the Seversky Donets basin" [5, p. 21].

An excavation area of 210 m² was laid on the site of the roundabout city. Stratigraphy consisted of 2 layers: the upper (Old Russian) and the lower (Old Russian, Roman, Scythian time). 3 semi-dugouts, 30 utility pits dating back to the Old Russian time were investigated. Mass finds (fragments of stucco ceramics and amphoras of the Crimean production), as well as a board of an earthenware pan, belong to the period of residence of the northerners in this territory. Fragments of ceramics, a clay zoomorphic figurine, a bronze button and a staff-shaped pin of the East Baltic type belong to the Early Iron Age [2, p. 104-105]. Based on the data obtained, it can be concluded that the first settlement near the village. Nettle appeared at the beginning of the Iron Age, then at the end of the 1st millennium AD. e. the site of the settlement is occupied by the carriers of the Romny culture, and at the beginning of the XII century. here an ancient Russian settlement arose, which developed until the Mongol invasion of Rus' in the XIII century.

The next multi-layer monument, which was investigated by the expedition led by A. G. Dyachenko, was the settlement of Belgorod Menshoy (a wooden prison of the third Belgorod fortress). The work was carried out in 1999 and 2002-2003.

The analysis of the obtained results made it possible to divide the history of the settlement of the site into several periods. So, judging by the mass material, for the first time a settlement appeared here at the beginning of the III - the end of the IV centuries n. e. and belonged to the bearers of Kievan culture. The next layer, according to stratigraphy, arose in the second half of the VII - the first half of the VIII centuries and belonged to the Slavic tribe of the northerners. The Old Russian layer dates back to the XI-XIII centuries. As the researcher himself notes, “the cultural layer was deposited intermittently over a long period - from the III - IV centuries. n. e. until the last quarter of the XX century [6, p. 311].

On the basis of the data obtained by A. G. Dyachenko, several scientific papers were written, which provide an analysis of the studies, which, in the case of such OAS as "Hotmyzhsk settlement-1" and "Krapivnoe settlement-1", allows for the first time to reconstruct the process of settlement and further development of the upper reaches of the Vorskla and the Seversky Donets in ancient Russian times. The results obtained during the excavations became the basis for further archaeological and historical work. So, for example, based on the sources of the XVII century, monographic works and conducted in 1990-93. reconnaissance on the fortifications of the Belgorod Line, at the moment, historians and researchers are reconstructing the fortifications of the Line, and archaeologists are conducting surveys, which, in recent years, have become more ambitious than in previous years.

The results obtained by Alexander Grigoryevich became the foundation for further study of the ancient settlement near the village Krapivnoe, which continued in 2021-2022 under the leadership of A. A. Bozhko with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund.