Archaeological Research of Palace of the 14th–15th Centuries in Bakota in the 60’s of the 20th Century

Ihor Starenkyi
Candidate of Historical Sciences (Ph.D. in History),
Leading Research Fellow, Kamianets-Podilskyi State Historical Museum-Reserve (Ukraine, Kamianets-Podilsky),
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orcid.org/0000-0001-7676-4128

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/ul2019.05.087

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Abstract

The article deals with the archaeological study of the palace complex in Bakota in 1961 and 1963–1965, which was initially carried out by the expedition of the Kamianets-Podilskyi State Historical Museum-Reserve under the direction of Gregory Hotyun, and later by the united expedition of Kamianets-Podilskyi the Pedagogical Institute, the Kamianets-Podilskyi State Historical Museum-Reserve and the Khmelnytsk Regional Museum of Local History under the direction of Ion Vinokur.

During the research, it was possible to uncover the entire area of the building, which was 30×10 m in size. The remnants of the building were dated 14–15 centuries and interpreted as the palace of Nemyria. It was established that the palace is a brick-stone made of lime stone with lime mortar. The north wall of the building was "cut" into the terraced slope of the mountain, while the southern (facade) wall had a slight depth of laying of the foundation – 0,6 m. The study revealed elements of decoration (curtains, cornices, etc.), tiles on the floor, made of local Dniester limestone.

We have carried out an analysis of archaeological finds from excavations that are stored in the funds of the Kamianets-Podilskyi State Historical Museum-Reserve and some thoughts about the dating of the building are expressed. In particular, with a detailed examination of the archaeological material from excavations, it is determined that the architectural elements found are not reliable for dating, and a few fragments of cookware and stove tiles date back to the 17–18 centuries.

The dating of the palace was carried out mainly on the basis of architectural observations of Hryhorii Logvin in the almost complete absence of reliably dating archaeological finds (fragments of ceramic products, numismatic material, weapons, etc.). In addition, an additional impetus to the attribution of the investigated archaeological site as a palace of Nemyria which dates 14th–15th centuries was the analysis of historical events that are related to the region of Bakota in particular during this historical period. From the point of view of archeology today, such dating does not look convincing.

Proceeding from this, today there is a need for further archaeological study of the palace complex, but it is greatly complicated by the lack of funding for the work and the fact that the remnants of the building are almost completely disassembled.

 

Keywords

Bakota, palace, Nemyria, excavations, archaeological expedition, Ion Vinokur, Hryhorii Khotyun.

 

Archives

Архів Кам’янець-Подільського державного історичного музею-заповідника [Archive of the Kamianets-Podilskyi State Historical Museum-Reserve].
Науковий архів Інституту археології НАН України [Scientific archive of the Institute of Archeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine].
Фонди Кам’янець-Подільського державного історичного музею-заповідника [Funds of the Kamianets-Podilskyi State Historical Museum-Reserve].

 

References

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