MINSK, 2 August (BelTA) – A house of a guardsman dating back to the 10th century has been found during archeological digs on the site of an ancient settlement near the village of Golshany, Oshmyany District, Grodno Oblast, BelTA learned from head of the expedition, research staff member of the History Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) Pavel Kenko.
The archeological site near Golshany includes an ancient town, a settlement and three groups of burial mounds. Golshany was first mentioned in the Bykhovets Chronicle. “A residential building constructed in the 10th century has been found during the digs this year. It consists of two strings of foundation made up of big stones, a cook stove, a fireplace for cooking food and a structure consisting of big flat stones which purpose is to be determined,” Pavel Kenko said.
Such buildings were found in other important archeological sites in the Neman River basin on the territory of modern-day Belarus and Lithuania (Volkovysk, Krevo, Novogrudok, and Vilnius).
Among the 10th century items found in the building were belt plates and buckles from Volga Bulgaria, a fragment of a chape of a sword scabbard from Scandinavia, a fragment of a silver dirham from the Arab Caliphate, a plummet for measuring silver, a fragment of a bracelet and a button from Kiev. This set of the artifacts belonged to a guardsman and came from the north (Scandinavia) and the south (Khazaria) reflecting the fashion of those times.
A team of archeologists from the NASB History Institute has been carrying out digs near Golshany since 2007. The work was initiated by the education department of the Oshmyany District Executive Committee and in 2018 the digs are timed to the Year of Native Land. Taking part in the research are school children from the Centaurs history camp.
