Средневековые городища Водской земли
Votia’s Medieval Hillforts

Summary/Abstract: Votia of Novgorod the Great is located on the northwestern border of Old Rus’. Its territorial basis was the fertile Izhora plateau. The local population of the region were the Baltic-Finnish tribes of Chud’ and Vod/Votes. They contributed to the formation of the Old Rus’ state since 10th c. and experienced its cultural influence. The small hillfort Pillovo 2 dates to the 10th — early 11th centuries. Its cultural stratum contains remnants of buildings and traces of fires. The Viking time necropolises contain many examples of high-quality professional weapons, including swords. This indicates a high militarization of the population. At the beginning of the 12th century, the Slavic-Russian population appeared in the region. To protect the borders of Votia against attacks, large shelter hillforts Kaibolovo, Voronino, Chernaya were built. They were located on the promontories and natural hills on the banks of rivers and were intended to shelter the rural population in the event of a military danger. A characteristic feature of the hillforts of Votia was facing of the earthen wall with stone slabs. Weapons in 12th — early 13th centuries graves were still numerous, but the armament complex showed more archaic features. Since the beginning of the expansion of the Livonian knights in the Novgorod land in the middle of the 13th century, the system of fortified shelters became ineffective. It was replaced by stone fortresses. Disappearance of weapons from burials indicates the decline of the role of the local military organization and its replacement by the warlords with professional retinues in late 13th century, with Koporye fortress as their main base.

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