mixture of Birka and Rjurikovo Gorodishche, with a culture that is exposing its origin
in Svealand’ (Duczko 2004 : 188 ). A number of Scandinavian objects have been also
found in hill forts, rural settlements and cemeteries in an area between the Western
Dvina and the Upper Dnepr.
Kiev (Kyiv) is situated on the high right bank of the Dnepr River. During the Viking
Age, this centre of Rus’ consisted of the upper part or the town hill, in medieval written
sources called Gora and now known as Starokievska gora, and the lower part called
Podol’e/Podil. Northward from Gora, a row of hills stretch towards another centre of the
tenth century, Vyshgorod. Two of the hills rising over the lower town still preserve their
medieval names, Zamkova and Shchekovitsa.
Archaeological excavations on Starokievska gora revealed a small hill fort from the
seventh century, which could be connected to the hill fort of the Slavic prince Kiy,
mentioned in the Russian Primary Chronicle. According to the Chronicle this town still
existed when the Northmen Askold and Dir arrived in Kiev in 862. The Chronicle relates
how they gathered other Varangians and remained as princes in the town built by Kiy.
Excavations in the 1970 s discovered on the lower part of the town several well-preserved
wooden buildings and even complete merchant properties from the late ninth to tenth
centuries. The finds testify that merchants and craftsmen were the main inhabitants
there. No artefacts of Scandinavian origin were found in Podil during these excavations
(see discussion in Androshchuk 2004 b; Zotsenko 2003 ). However, a large number of
such objects came from the tenth-century cremation and chamber graves in the upper
town. A hoard of six gold bracelets of Scandinavian type was also found here. These and
other finds indicate that no regular townscape existed there prior to the eleventh cen-
tury. What most likely existed were individual homesteads, around which barrows
arose. A chain of satellite-settlements situated below the hills stretched northwards from
the town. One of them existed in the area of the modern Jurkivska street, where remains
of several destroyed barrows with cremation and inhumation graves were revealed.
The graves yielded jewellery and swords of Scandinavian character (Androshchuk
2004 b: 36 ). In the same area was also found a hoard of Islamic coins with jewellery dated
to 935 / 6.
Single Scandinavian objects including brooches, bronze pendants and scabbard
chapes decorated in Borre and Jellinge style and also swords have come to light in towns,
hill forts and settlements to the north and west of Kiev (a total of about ten finds
from Vyshgorod, Bilgorod, Korosten’, Lystvyn, Pljasheva and Bycheva) (some of them
discussed in Zotsenko 2004 ).
South of Kiev, downriver on the Dnepr, single finds of Scandinavian character have
been made as far as the Old Rus’ town of Pereyaslav (Androshchuk 1999 : 108 ; Duczko
2004 ). Objects of Scandinavian origin have also come to light in the Lower Dnepr area.
Here, close to Khortitsa island, five swords from the late Viking Age and other objects
were found in the river. Taking into account the character of the finds and also evidence
of Rus’ sacrificing on St. Gregory island (Moravchik 1985 ) this could be interpreted as
weapon sacrifice well known from this period in Sweden and Denmark.
Crimea (Krym)There is only one Scandinavian grave known on the territory of the Krym peninsula. It
was revealed in the cemetery of Byzantine Chersoneses and contained one scramasax and
–– Fjodor Androshchuk––