Vitalii Korzhyk

Candidate of Geography Sciences (PhD), Senior Researcher, Deputy Director of Science, National Natural Park «Khotynsky», Khotyn, Ukraine.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6275-8819

E-mail: vpkorzhyk@gmail.com

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Keywords: Bukovyna, Khotyn height, beligerative complexes, fortresses, historical-geographical process.

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Abstract

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The article is devoted to the study of beligerative complexes (material consequences of military events, BC) of the unique Khotyn Height in the Prut-Dniester interfluve of Bukovina. BC in themselves and as factors of a certain change in the landscape-forming processes, has a valuable informative role in historical and geographical research.

When studying BC in their spatial aspect, attention is drawn to the positional factors that determine their specific location, the relationship with the environment (landscape) and anthropogenically altered lands, the state of development of economy and technology, the level of resource supply, the degree of population management and the political situation. Understanding all the nuances of the historical-geographical process in relation to BC makes it possible, according to the principles of scientific reflection, to clarify both the course of the process and the quality of research methods used and the reliability of the original information base.

In this publication, from the standpoint of a new fact, an attempt is made to analyze some controversial issues on the example of specific old fortresses, to explain the existence of these beligerative phenomena and to determine the tasks of further research. Fortresses are witnesses of the practice of selective use of landscapes with specific parameters and properties that are relevant at the time of their creation and operation. 13 fortresses of different ages are considered - from the Trypillia culture to Kievan Rus, on the examples of which controversial issues are analyzed and directions of further historical and archeological researches are outlined.

The study of Bukovina fortresses proved:

- beligerative complexes are not yet fully evaluated phenomena - information systems, a full analysis of which is impossible without taking into account an important factor - the type and nature of the landscape containing them;

- the main points of historical and geographical analysis of this phenomenon should be: motives for the construction of fortresses of appropriate shape and size, socio-political features of the community, natural and economic resource base of the community - the creator of fortresses, what territory and approximate population they served, what were the forms and methods of organizing the construction process and maintaining buildings in working order, what are the incentives to attract a large number of builders and the duration of the construction process, the reasons for their decline, what was the nature of the environment and the structure of land at a particular time of BC;

- the presence of such BC presupposes the existence of synchronous unfortified neighboring settlements with the appropriate number of inhabitants. If such settlements are still unknown, then archaeological attention should be focused on their discovery and study, and in case of negative results to look for other plausible historical explanations of the existence of this phenomenon.

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References

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1. Korzhyk, V. P. O refleksivnyh aspectah istoryko-geograficheskih issledovaniy [About the reflexive aspects of historical and geographical research]. Landshaftogenez–2000: filosofiya i geografiya. – Landscape genesis – 2000: philosophy and geography: Proceedings of the International Scietific and Practical Conference, (pp.112–115). Kyiv, 1996. [in Russian].

2. Korzhyk, V. P. Istoryko-geografichniy protses yak antropogenizatsia dovkillia [Historical and geographical process as anthropogenization of the environment]. Landshaft yak intehruiucha kontseptsiia XXI storichchia – Landscape as integral conception of XXI century. (pp. 162–166). Kyiv, 1999. [in Ukrainian].

3. Korzhyk, V. P. Antropogenizatsia sredy: istoryko-geograficheskie aspekty [Anthropogenization of the Environment: Historical and Geographical Aspects].
   Prirodopol'zovanie v usloviyakh differentsirovannogo antropogennogo vozdeystviya – Nature use is the condition of differential anthropogenic impact, (pp. 7–11). Minsk-Sosnowiec, 2000. [in Russian].

4. Korzhyk, V. P. Lisystist Bukovyny yak funktsia antropogenizatsii dovkilla [Bukovyna forest cover as a function of anthropogenization of the environment]. Naukovyi visnyk Chernivetskoho universytetu – Proceedings of Chernivtsi university. (Issue. 104. Geography), (pp. 36–60). Chernivtsi: Ruta, 2001 [in Ukrainian].

5. Korzhyk, V. P. (ed.) et.al. Khotyns’ka vysochyna. Kollektyvna monografia [Khotyn Upland. Collective monograph]. Chernivtsi: DrukArt, 2012. [in Ukrainian].

6. Mykhailyna, L. P. Naselennia Verhniogo Popruttia VІІІ–Х century [The population of the Upper Poprut VIII-X centuries]. Chernivtsi: Ruta, 1997 [in Ukrainian].

7. Rusanova, I. P., & Tymoshchuk, B. A. Drevnierusskoie Podnestrovie: istoryko-krayevedcheskie ocherki [Old Russ Pridnestrovie: Historical and Local Lore Essays]. Uzhhorod: Karpaty, 1981. [in Russian].

8. Tymoshchuk, B. O. Pivnichna Bukovyna – zemlia slovians’ka [Northern Bukovina is a Slavic land]. Uzhhorod: Karpaty, 1979. [in Ukrainian].