The Serpent's Wall () is an ancient system of earthworks ( valla) located in the middle

Dnieper Ukraine The term Dnieper Ukraine (), usually refers to territory on either side of the middle course of the Dnieper River. The Ukrainian name derives from ''nad‑'' (prefix: "above, over") + ''Dnipró'' ("Dnieper") + ''‑shchyna'' (suffix denoting a g ...

(Naddniprianshchyna)Kuchera, M.
Serpent Walls (ЗМІЄВІ ВАЛИ)
'. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. that stretch across primarily

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. They seem to be similar in purpose and character to

Trajan's Wall Trajan's Wall () is the name used for several linear earthen fortifications () found across Eastern Europe, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. Contrary to the name and popular belief, evidence shows the ramparts were likely not built under the reign ...

situated to the southwest in

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

. The remaining ancient walls have a total length of 1,000 km and constitute less than 20% of the original wall system.

History

According to legend, the earthworks are the result of ancient events when a mythical hero ( bohatyr), Kozmodemian (or Borysohlib), in order to slay the gargantuan dragon (serpent) Gornych, harnessed it to a giant plow and furrowed the earth. Gornych bit the dust and left furrows, on both sides of which were immense banks of earth that became known as Serpent's Wall. The ancient walls were built between the 2nd century BC and 7th century AD, according to

carbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was ...

. There are three theories as to what peoples built the walls: either the

Sarmatians The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

against the

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

, or the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

Oium Oium was a name for Scythia, or a fertile part of it, roughly in modern Ukraine, where the Goths, under a legendary King Filimer, settled after leaving Gothiscandza, according to the ''Getica'' by Jordanes, written around 551. It is general ...

against the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

, or the

Early East Slavs The early Slavs were speakers of Indo-European languages, Indo-European dialects who lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately from the 5th to the 10th centuries AD) in Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Ea ...

against the nomads of the southern

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

s. In

Slavic culture This is a list of the cultures of Slavic Europe. * East Slavs: ** Culture of Russia ** Culture of Ukraine ** Culture of Belarus ** Rusyn culture * South Slavs: ** Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina ** Culture of Bulgaria ** Culture of Croatia * ...

, the warlike nomads are often associated with the winged dragon, hence the name. On the right bank of

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

between its tributaries

Teteriv The Teteriv () is a right tributary of the Dnieper River in Ukraine. It has a length of and a drainage basin of . The Teteriv flows generally in northeastern direction through geographic regions of Podolian Upland, Dnieper Upland, and Polesia. T ...

and

Ros Ros or ROS or RoS may refer to: Organizations * Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale, the Anti-organized Crime Branch of the Italian Carabinieri * Registers of Scotland, a Scottish authority responsible for compiling and maintaining records * Repart ...

the remnants of the walls form six lines stretching from west to east. One Serpent's Wall passed over the left bank of Dnieper and its tributary Sula. The 1974-85 explorations established that Serpent's Wall is a remnant of wooded earth fortifications built at the end of 10th and the first half of 11th centuries, smaller part in the 12th century, to protect middle

and

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

from

Pechenegs The Pechenegs () or Patzinaks, , Middle Turkic languages, Middle Turkic: , , , , , , ka, პაჭანიკი, , , ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Pečenezi, separator=/, Печенези, also known as Pecheneg Turks were a semi-nomadic Turkic peopl ...

and

Cumans The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cumania, Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Ru ...

. Later excavation, southeast of the historical town Pereiaslav, brought to light ceramic materials dated to the third or fourth century and attributed to the

Chernyakhov culture The Chernyakhov culture, Cherniakhiv culture or Sântana de Mureș—Chernyakhov culture was an archaeological culture that flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE in a wide area of Eastern Europe, specifically in what is now Ukraine, Ro ...

. Remains of a timber construction were also found in a trial excavation of 2019 near the village of Khotsky. While none of these findings are conclusive, they concur in suggesting a later date of construction than earlier theories. Due to military unrest in the region, specifically Russia's 2022 attempt to surround Kyiv, the damage to nearby sections of the Serpent's Wall is of yet impossible to assess.

Gallery

File:Змієві вали біля села Іванковичі.jpg, Vallums near village of Ivankovychi,

Obukhiv Raion Obukhiv Raion () is a raion (district) in Kyiv Oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Obukhiv. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the number of raions of Kyiv Oblast was reduced to seven, and ...

File:Serpent's wall.jpg, Wall near village of Ivankovychi

References

External links

Photo documentary about the Serpent's Wall
by Elena Filatova Landmarks in Ukraine Fortifications in Ukraine Walls Ruins in Ukraine Fortification lines History of Kyiv Oblast Linear earthworks Archaeological sites in Ukraine {{Ukraine-hist-stub