The Results of Archaeological Research in 2020–2021 on the Kamin Tract in Pidkamin (Lviv Oblast)

Abstract

The focus of the article is to summarise the results of archaeological research in 2020–2021 at the Pidkamin I site (Kamin tract), which is in Pidkamin village, Lviv Oblast. The site is located on a conical hill surrounded by a line of walls and ditches, on the top of which there is a 12-meter-high cliff. During the research, there were carried out geodetic and topographical measurements, photographic recording of the cemetery, the cliff, and its individual elements, as well as three exploration trenches. According to the 2020 research, it was possible to create a digital terrain model, an elementary plan of the site, and 3D models of individual stone crosses, rock tombs, etc. Even in 2021, due to preventive research, it was possible to study the structure and stratigraphy of the northern and southern parts of the ditch, as well as the stratigraphy of the layers at the foot of the cliff.
As a result, it was verified that the oldest horizon of the site’s settlement can be associated with the Vysotska culture of the 11th–7th centuries BC, as evidenced by a large number of pottery fragments found. The next horizon is represented by artefacts of the Middle Ages, including pottery of the Raiky culture of the late 7th–8th centuries, and items of the Kyivan Rus period, of the 10th–11th centuries, and late 12th–13th centuries. The final period was associated with the cemetery and artefacts of the 17th–19th centuries, including pottery, tile fragments, blown glass, etc.
Due to the research at the foot of the cliff, it was possible to confirm the assumption of scholars regarding the presence of older burials here. Probably, in the late 17th–18th centuries, because of overflow and widening, neighboring or older burials of the Middle Ages or Bronze / Early Iron Age were damaged. Due to the research of the ditch, it became known that in the 17th–18th centuries it lost its primary function, as it was used as a burial place and was filled in. Therefore, the time of the ditch’s construction was probably dated to the Middle Ages. In addition to the cemetery, in the 17th–18th centuries at the foot of the cliff, the Church of the Savior existed, which can be confirmed by both written and visual historical sources and by the presence of tile fragments, etc. This directly indicates the important religious significance of the site and the tradition of burying in the 17th–18th centuries, which probably preserved from earlier times.