“Archaeologists are the detectives of the past,” said Agatha Christie. They investigate, seek and study ancient antiquity based on artifacts – the remnants of material culture. How would we learn about the past, if there were no archaeologists with their finds?
No matter how many legends and mythical thoughts people created, but all about life, life and even the beauty of the past, we can surely know only the results of the work of archaeologists.
It is thanks to their research that we can confidently assert that the territory of Zhytomyr was inhabited since the time of ancient stone age, that is, 100 thousand years ago. Professor Ivan Yarmoshyk, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of Special Historical Disciplines and Law, Zhytomyr State University, says that such an “exotic”, the earliest settlement was found on the territory of Cherniakhiv district, in the village of Horodyshche.
Investigated the early Paleolithic station and the well-known Zhytomyr archaeologist Vasily Alexandrovich Moon. Thanks to his hard work, we know about the lives of our ancient “fellow countrymen” – Neanderthals.
However, this is the only such ancient place. The rest of the region was populated later – in the late Paleolithic period, that is 40 thousand years ago. An ancient legend links the founding of Zhytomyr with the adviser and retinue of Prince Askold, who was murdered in Kiev in 882. Then one of the soldiers Askold went to the land of the Drevlianske tribe and as if on a high mountain of the river Kamianka founded the settlement, leaving his name to the city as a gift.
Ukrainian archeology as a science began to emerge from the works of the famous Ukrainian historian Volodymyr Antonovych, and his first archaeological research was started by a scientist in Zhytomyr. At the end of the nineteenth century, he conducted excavations on the Malovanka, studying a huge mound consisting of about a hundred smaller burial mounds. All of them belonged to the ancient Slavic period of the X-XII centuries. And this is not a legend, but a hundred percent testimony to the existence of Zhytomyr already in those days.
Ivan Ivanovich Yarmoshyk, a doctor of historical sciences, is a teacher of Zhytomyr State University and one of the well-known and respected representatives of his profession. In 1984, he participated in an expedition to study the castle mountain, which was timed to the 1100th anniversary of Zhytomyr. The professor recalls that the excavations were extremely difficult. The reason is that the territory was inhabited all the time, and there were cultural layers of different times. However, despite the difficulties, researchers-seekers found archaeological materials dated back to the nineteenth century – yet another vivid confirmation of the venerable age of our city.
Did Zhytomyr archeologists find treasures, golds and silver jewelry? So! But, apparently, not in such a large quantity as someone would like. In the overwhelming majority, such finds most often occurred on the ancient Rus sights, and then passed into the exposition of the museum of local lore.
August 15 is Archaeologist’s Day. Previously, they celebrated their professional holiday unofficially: only those who were part of an expedition on archaeological excavations celebrated. And only recently, in 2008, in Ukraine it was officially launched. Why is mid-August selected? There are several legends. One of them is the date of birth of the famous Soviet scholar Trypillian culture, archaeologist Tetyana Pasyk.
This profession has always been shrouded in legends. Still, please, not everyone is happy to keep the things of their ancestors in their hands. But the main thing is the historical and cultural value of the finds from the representatives of the romantic, extremely interesting and painstaking profession – people who reveal to us a new Zhytomyr region, unexplored and mysterious.
Translated by Aliona Matuhevich
