NEW DATA ON THE TOPOGRAPHY OF SETTLEMENT 1 IN KOROSTEN

Archaeological sites of the chronicle Iskorosten located in the modern city of Korosten, Zhytomyr region, have been attracting the attention of historians and archaeologists for almost 200 years. F. A. Kozubovsky, I. P. Rusanova, M. P. Kuchera, B. A. Zvizdetsky examined the site. The paper contains the results of surveys of the site in 2013 which made significant additions to understanding of the nature of settlement 1 and the ancient chronicle city. Findings of scientific value were discovered, and the topography of the settlement was clarified. During the excavations of a part of the defensive moat of the settlement 1 the numerous fragments of wheel-made pottery were discovered. According to its morphological features it could be dated to the to the first half the tenth century. Finds of household items, parts of clothing and jewelry were also recorded. The details of the decoration of military equipment — belt plates are the finds of great interest. These heart-shaped plates made of gilded silver and decorated with floral ornaments made by stamping on the matrix. The surface is additionaly decorated with embossed small elements of or-nament. The large thick plates with slotted holes and smaller ones without slots can be distinguished. The similarity of the size, details of the shape and ornament indicate that they probably come from one belt set and were made on two matrices by one craftsman. The real discovery in the study of the capital of Drevlians land can be named the finding of the location of citadel (Detynets) cultural layers. Most scholars considered them irretrievably lost for science. The small elevation at the beginning of the entrance onto the hill on the swampy floodplain of the tributary of Uzh river turned out to the place where in the 30s of the twentieth century the cultural layers of the citadel were moved.