Gorodische from Novgorod and Gnyozdovo: 40 years of controversy

Abstract

In 1979 the author and Tamara Pushkina published an article dedicated to the prehistory of the Russian town, where Gnyozdovo settlement near Smolensk was described as princely pogost, controlling veche town of the Kriviches, just as «Ryurikovo» Gorodische (hillfort) controlled Slovenian Novgorod. Initially, this historic structure caused the rejection, including Evgeniy Nosov: the chronological gap between the earliest nonfortified trade-craft settlements (9th–10th centuries; transcontinental trade was considered the background function) and latest old Russian towns dated with the second half of the 10th century (earliest Smolensk housing estates belong to the second half of the 11th century). Positions of the opponents became closer, when Valentin Yanin speculated that the Princely settlement was part of the emerging from individual settlements (future town blocks) Novgorod. Gorodische was perceived as «old town» — New town / Novgorod arose from the joining up of primary settlements (Evgeniy Nosov). Smolensk and Gnyozdovo excavations reveal the presence of the earliest strata, in Smolensk significantly associated with autochthonous long barrows culture (Nikolay Krenke, et. al.), in Gnyozdovo associated with the River Port Zone (Veronica Murasheva, et. al.). The problem of future research is whether long barrows found in Smolensk correspond to Kriviches town «in its place» and how can the town relate chronologically to the trading port in Gnyozdovo.