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ARCHAEOLOGY OF KIEV 337slopes. The gradually rising riverbank was traversed by two brooks emergingfrom the ravines, the northern one being the Jurkovycja and the southern,the Hlybocycja.Excavations begun in the early 1970s clearly show us that there was nosettlement in the Podil until the late ninth century (cf. Callmer 1981, pp.38-39; Hupalo 1982, pp. 18-33; Mezentsev 1986). The area was not suitablefor settlement earlier, and even then settlement there was precariousfor a long time, at least through the tenth century. In contrast to the study ofearly settlement in other parts of Kiev, the development of the Podil can bedated quite accurately, thanks to a detailed stratigraphy which provides evidencefor dendrochronology, numismatic dates, and changing potterydesign (Sahajdak 1981, 1982A, 1982B). The earliest timber constructionsare dated to A.D. 887 (Hupalo 1982, p. 15). Since dendrochronology is to acertain extent a calculation of statistical probability, the exact date shouldnot be considered absolute, although results are so consistent that adjustmentsof more than a decade are unlikely.Already from the early tenth century settlement was organized. Areassuitable for settlement were divided into rather regular plots, which came intwo sizes: the smaller ca. 300 square meters and the larger size ca. 600 to800 square meters (Tolocko 1981D, pp. 85-92). A similar division, butwith generally larger plots, also existed in late tenth- and eleventh-centuryNovgorod. Each plot was claimed for generations, and the whole systemproved very conservative and stable. The regularity of the plots, evidentfrom the outset of settlement, may indicate systematic allotments to followersand retainers of land previously held in common or—moreprobably—originally claimed by the elite.Constructed on the plots were timberhouses built in horizontal timberwork,in some cases of the regular pjatystinka-type, a building techniqueotherwise known only further north, in the forest region. On each plot ahouse stood back from the street, with a couple of outbuildings along thestreet. Due to the very wet conditions, houses were often built on woodfoundations. During the tenth century, the Podil was inundated severaltimes by new sediment layers. Reconstructed boundaries closely followedthe earlier pattern.There is little variation in the architecture of the Podil. The wet groundand the high water table made it very difficult to construct stonebuildings—in fact, no early ones are known there. The higher ground (thesecond terrace) at the foot of the hills may have become suitable for suchbuildings in the course of the tenth century, for later stone churches wereerected there. Until recently, graves from the period were little-known inthe river bank area. Now excavations have revealed graves dating to the