Khotynsʹke horodyshche (Khotyn Hillfort)
A hillfort is a place where the remains of a fortified refuge or defended settlement have been preserved or where the archaeologists have found traces of ancient settlements during excavations. Hillforts are typical for many countries and belong to different historical epochs. The soil on the site of Khotyn Hillfort has a humus layer to a depth of 0.8 m, and from time to time archaeologists find pottery belonging to 10th – early 11th century, 12th – 14th centuries, and 17th – 18th centuries in it.
Archaeological Monument of Local Importance
Rivne Oblast, Shpaniv Territorial Community (Hromada), north-western outskirts of the village on the cape of the high left bank of the Horyn River.
50.70529, 26.23696
12,6 km
Khotyn Hillfort is a unique multi-layered archaeological monument of the times of Kyivan Rus; it has significant potential for further study and transformation as a cultural heritage element into a resource for the local community and the development of the “Towns and Cities of Pohorynnia” tourist route.
The archaeological excavations started at the Khotyn Hillfort upon the request of the Shpaniv Territorial Community. In August 2020, an archaeological expedition led by Oleksii Voitiuk found several pots of the Early Iron Age with a characteristic decoration in the form of adhesive rollers and rounded indentations, as well as various tools. These materials testify to the long history of the location, which is not limited to the times of Kyivan Rus.
The history of exploring the Khotyn Hillfort began at the end of the 19th century. At that period the scientists started to study the monument, as evidenced by the mention in the “Archaeological Map of the Volhynian Governorate”, written by a prominent historian and archaeologist Volodymyr Antonovych. During the interwar period, Roman Yakymovych (1931) and Levko Chykalenko (1933) inspected the monument. Later, in 1960, Pavlo Rappoport made measurements and made drawings of the object in-situ. He also dug a prospecting pit in the settlement and recorded the humus soil, saturated with ceramics of the 17th-18th centuries. Ihor Svieshnikov (1961) and Józef Nikolchenko (1976) re-examined the settlement while compiling the “Dovidnyk z arkheolohii. Rivnenska Oblast” (“Handbook of Archaeology. Rivne Oblast”. In 1986, archaeologist Bohdan Pryshchepa conducted a survey of the site of the hillfort and the surrounding areas. Moreover, quite recently, in 2012, Mykola Khomych checked the cultural layer here. At that time, the researchers found fragments of pottery of the 12th-13th centuries and iron tang-style knives in a prospecting pit in the central part of the settlement.
Khotyn Hillfort is a pear-shaped fortified site with the sizes of 110×45-60 m (the total area is 0.6 ha), it rises above the floodplain of the Horyn River by 10 m. There is an embankment along the site perimeter, which is 1.0-1.5 m high. The fortification is separated by an arched ditch, 30 m wide, on the eastern side, which was dug to the full height of the cape. There is also a gap in the defensive embankment on the north-western side at the location of the ancient entrance. The archaeologists found the traces of another entrance on the south-eastern side. The north-western cape end is separated from the fortified area by a moat and turned into a detached rounded site with a diameter of about 10 m, with a flat horizontal surface, suitable for a defensive tower.
The Festiv Island, where many interesting events take place on an annual basis, is at the foot of the Khotyn Hillfort. The most popular events include: All-Ukrainian Cycling Festival “Marafon Polis’ka Sich” (“Polissian Sich Marathon”), “Vohniana sova” (“Fire Owl”) Festival, historical and cultural festival “Pohoryna. Urochyshche Chadorozh” (“Pohoryna. Chadorozh Isolated Terrain”).
Historic reference: Oleksii Voitiuk, photograph and video: Yurii Oitsius
Video
- Number of Hillforts: - 3
- Number of Springs: - 1
- Number of Attractions: - 9
- Number of Monuments: - 3