Ostrovski rampart. Problems of research and chronology

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to summarize the results of the archaeological excavations of Ostrovski rampart. The excavations in 2011 and 2019 clarified the main dimensions of the earthwork structure and shed new light on the problem of its chronology.

The Ostrovski rampart is the largest earthwork structure in present-day Northwest Bulgaria, with a linear length of about 58 km. It encloses the steppe area between the Danube River and the low hills of the Fore Balkans. The earthwork structure consists of two elements: a ditch about 3 m deep and a rampart embanked on its eastern side. During the last archaeological excavations, two sherds of Early Medieval pottery dating to the first half of the 9th c. were found at the bottom of the ditch. Calf bones were also found in the silt that partially filled the ditch. Radiocarbon analysis of the bones dates them between 767 and 900.

Different opinions have been expressed about the purpose of the earthwork ramparts. Most scholars believe that they were built to strengthen militarily important areas. The data from the archaeological map of the region show that the most significant demographic resource necessary for the construction and protection of such a large-scale fortification line existed in the first half of the 9th c., when a large number of settlements appeared between the rivers Iskar and Tsibritsa. Historical sources note that at the same time, west of Bulgaria, the political and military situation is very unstable, which is probably the reason why the Bulgarian authorities organized a preventive strengthening of the endangered West Bulgarian areas.