Вали — важлива складова частина дерев’яно-земляних споруд укріплених поселень Х—ХІV ст. Північної Буковини
Короткий опис(реферат)
I. P. Vozny
Ramparts as the Important
Component of the WoodenEarth Constructions
of Fortified Settlements
of the 10th—14th Centuries
in the Northern Bukovyna
The ramparts which were one of the important elements of defensive structures of fortified settlement
structures of the 10th — first half of the 14th centuries
within the northern part of Bukovyna are examined
in the paper based on the analysis of archaeological
material and written sources. Structural components
of ramparts, their additional internal and superstructures are analyzed. Ramparts began to be actively used
in the organization of defense structures of the territory under study from the turn of the 10th to the 11th centuries. The ramparts, which served as platforms for
defensive log cabins, to prevent their creeping and to
give them greater steepness were strengthened by additional internal rampart structures, such as a wooden
wall up to 1 m high, stone crepitations, the remains
of earlier fortifications of the Slavic or Early Iron age.
The horizontal pad (so called berma) could be used as a
means of restraining the shifting of slopes. Log cabins
of various designs could be located on the ramparts or
on the inner side of the fortified square. Depending on
the location of the cabins in the defense system, a battle march for warriors laid out with stone slabs could
be arranged on their log cover. As a rule, the battle
march was covered from the outside with a wooden
parapet, which was called a «zaborolo». Depending on
the rank of the fortified point on which the cages were
located, they could be used as combat cells from which
they fired at the enemy or as household or residential
rooms. In addition to log cages, in the military and defense architecture of the region wood and earth fortifications of the pillar structure were also used during
the construction of the main defense line.
In the second half of the 13th — 14th centuries in the
ramparts of the main fortified lines of some hillforts the
additional constructions began to be used — «horodni»
which were absent in the hillforts of the territory under study in the 12th — the first half of the 13th century. Ramparts without internal constructions were
mainly a component of additional fortified lines. Sometimes their surface could be strengthened with a stone
facing.
The study of ramparts on the territory of northern
part of Bukovyna permits us to conclude that there is
no significant difference in the equipment of similar
structures in other areas of Old Rus. The involvement
of significant comparative material showed that the
military and defense architecture of the local population developed following the traditions of earlier epochs. At the same time by using individual local elements it is close to the military engineering art of the
Old Rus and Western Europe.