Pages: 169-182

The territorial division by pogost (churchyards) is a specific feature of medieval Novgorod. It existed for more than 8 centuries. Churchyards performed the function of administrative-fiscal districts. Their centers were points where personal dues and taxes were collected. On the Izhora Plateau, there are 4 groups of churchyards. The oldest ones in group 1 date to as early as the middle of the 10th century, in the locus of settlement formed in the 1st millennium AD on the outskirts of the hill, as a rule, in the springheads of the rivers. In the 10th—11th centuries, there are new centers of development and new churchyards of group 2, marked by the appearance of burial grounds with cremations. Churchyards of the 3rd group are associated with centers of the 12th—13th centuries settlements, their appearance is caused by development of settlements and internal colonization. Churchyards of group 4 do not correspond to any archaeological sites. Perhaps, these are latest centers that emerged in the post-barrow period in the 14th—15th centuries. Churchyards on the Izhora Plateau tend to its outskirts, to the headwaters of the rivers, originating on its slopes. Negative correlation with the hillforts has been noted, which marks the difference between the churchyards on the Izhora Plateau and the neighboring Upper Luga and Plyussa regions.

Keywords: Novgorod land, the Izhora plateau, Middle Ages, churchyard, settlement

Information about author:

Ivan Stasyuk (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]