HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES - See also - Harvard University

336 JOHAN CALLMERexcavations are needed to determine whether these remains actually date tothe earliest phase of stone architecture, or whether they are contemporarywith the late tenth-century buildings. It is possible that stone buildings wereconstructed in Byzantine style already towards the middle of the tenth century.Inside the fortification there was also a pagan shrine of some sort,probably with idols and sacrificial fires.Outside the fortifications extended a wide barrow cemetery (Karger1959, p. 138ff.; Kilijevyc 1982, pp. 142-52). By the middle of the tenthcentury it probably contained many hundreds of graves, both inhumationsin coffins and chambers and cremations. Some of these graves show distinctScandinavian features. One chamber grave (no. 114, according toKarger 1959) in every detail resembles contemporary Scandinavianchamber graves (fig. 7). There are also Scandinavian artifacts in somegraves. Two finds of Scandinavian oval fibulae have been documented(Karger 1959, p. 218). It should also be noted that quite early people wereliving outside the rampart in areas not used as burial grounds.It is now possible to visualize what the Starokyjivs'ka Hill was like inthe middle of the tenth century. Behind the ca. 4m deep moat (cf. Karger1959, p. 99) and the earthen rampart, which may have stood at least 4-5mhigh and which may have been crowned with complementary woodenfortifications, stood a complex of stone-built buildings, brightly painted,with wooden second floors. In addition, there were some sunken-featuredbuildings and small timbered, quadrangular houses. There are probablyalso some remains of a complex of the large timber buildings that generallyantedated the stone buildings. The larger buildings stood in the central partof the fortified area and the smaller wooden houses stood along the periphery,especially towards the slopes and even on ledges of the slopes. Outsidethe fortifications, wide expanses with tumuli could be seen. Therewere, however, also plots with small wooden buildings here and there, andon the edge of the slope close to the rampart stood a fine stone-built palacesurrounded by minor wooden buildings (perhaps with a pallisade of itsown).Let us now look at the other parts of Kiev at that time. During the ninthand especially the tenth century, the riverbank, which had always been ofmoderate breadth and very wet, was rapidly rising and becoming more andmore suitable for settlement. The formation of the territory of the low riverbank, the Podil, was the result of a number of deluvial and alluvialprocesses. The sedimentation of enormous quantities of sand by theDnieper was the most important factor, but erosion from the hills alsoplayed a role. The latter process was rapidly becoming more and more notablein the destruction of the natural vegetation cover on the hills and