Стаття присвячена результатам досліджень
літописного городища Чорнобиль та його околиць в період 2004—2020 рр. Коротко представлені
матеріали розкопок, на основі аналізу яких зроблені висновки, що надають змогу вважати городище укріпленим форпостом Північної Київщини з міським укладом життя. Позначені перспективи
подальших досліджень літописної пам’ятки та
засади щодо її збереження як об’єкту культурної спадщини.
Chernobyl was mentioned in Ipatievsky Chronicle
in the 1193 for the first time. In 2003 the location of
the chronicles Chernobyl was identified by archaeological
research. During 2004—2020 the area of 360 m2
was excavated, another 30 m2 was partly explored and
inhibited. As a result of the works the cultural layer
since the late Stone Age till the modern times has been
found. The cultural layer of the pre-chronicle period of
Old Rus Chernobyl from the end of the tenth century
is fixed. More than 300 archaeological objects, many
artifacts and fauna remains were found. There the
considerable number of artifacts of the «city» type is
represented: martial arrowheads, locks and keys, the
elements of horse harness, pieces of window-sill, stylus,
a huge number of decorations of glass and metal.
About 50 % of osteological remains belong to the wild
animals such as taurus, bear, deer. Such findings
make it possible to consider Chernobyl confidently
the border fortress with an urban lifestyle, founded
not later the late tenth century by the end of the eleventh
century. It became the important and probably
the main fortified outpost of the Northern Kyiv region
which controlled the river route to Kyiv from the
North.
In the last years of the excavations of settlement the
task was to find fortifications and study them. As a result,
in 2017 at the most likely location of Old Rus defensive
structures, the double moat of the XI—XII centuries
was recorded.
As a result of exploration on the territory of modern
Chernobyl and in its outskirts in 2016—2020 two settlements
of the XI—XII centuries and four localities of
Old Rus ceramics were found. In 2020 during the study
of the Lelev settlement the cultural layer of the twelveth
century was recorded.
In the close future it is necessary to recognize
the structure of fortifications and take the necessary
activities to protect the chronicle archaeological point.
