Archaeologists and volunteers on the shore of Lake Chervyady in Ushachy District have discovered fragments of a 12th-century suburban residence of Polotsk princes, a BELTA correspondent reports.
The archaeological expedition has been underway for three weeks. Recently, its participants stumbled upon fragments of a 12th-century suburban residence of Polotsk princes. Historian Vasily Voronin once hypothesized that the lands and courtyards of a 16th-century Polotsk voivode might be princely heritage from an earlier period. "We have managed to prove that there were princely demesne possessions here. We have now found their specific location, but similar structures exist in this area at other points," said Marat Klimov, Senior Researcher at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Candidate of Historical Sciences.
In the first excavation, specialists found an outbuilding. They are now working on the second excavation, where they discovered a 12th-century stove and a book clasp, an arrowhead, and pottery. All this indicates that a person of high status lived and rested here.
"We are identifying such fragments of a residence outside cities for the first time in the history of Belarusian archaeology. We cannot name the specific princes who might have lived here. Theoretically, Vseslav the Sorcerer could have visited here," added archaeologist Marat Klimov.
It is possible that the princely residence was burned down during internecine strife. Human remains were found here; it is not yet known from which period they date.