The Medieval Christian Necropolis in the Kopachyntsi hillfort (Ukraine). Unpublished Research Materials

Abstract

The article deals with unpublished research materials from the medieval Christian cemetery located on the territory of the hillfort in the village of Kopachyntsi in Sub-Carpathian region (Ukraine) which were conducted in 1953. Excavations were verified, objects and artefacts were analysed, and an attempt to attribute and date them was made. The site is represented by inhumations in pits, as well as burials under stone slabs. The so-called “under the slab burials” are a separate category of monuments of funeral culture, which is characterized by its diffusion only on the territory of Halician-Volhynian state, but not the whole of Kyiv Rus’. At the same time, such monuments are known in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia and Poland. Data on most of the under the slab monuments discovered on the territory of Ukraine are often uninformative, and therefore the publication of the results of stationary archaeological excavations is extremely important for understanding this cultural and religious phenomenon. Special attention is paid to a rare stone cross that was found by the deceased. The search for analogies allows us to conclude that it may be a pilgrimage relic.