Why are high embankments throughout Ukraine called "Serpent Shafts"?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

Huge earth mounds with deep ditches on one side are scattered throughout Ukraine and beyond. What do they stand for? When built? By whom? And why do they have such a strange name - "Serpent Shafts"?

History of Serpent Shafts

High earthen mounds, supported by a wooden palisade and bordered by a deep moat on one side, stretch over large areas. Over the years, some ramparts have already been destroyed by plowing, development and other factors.

But those that remain are scattered in pieces throughout Ukraine, mainly in Kharkiv, Poltava, Kyiv regions and Volyn. With a total length of 900 to 1000 km, they stretched from the Western part up to the Seversky Donets River. Although some mounds of Serpent Shafts are located in the south, in Primorye. Historians are still arguing about what kind of people built these earthen hills. Some argue that the Zmiev ramparts were poured in the X-XI century by the princes of Kievan Rus. Since the ramparts were located in a line parallel to Primorye, scientists argue their point of view by the fact that the people of Kiev defended themselves from nomads in this way.peoples - Pechenegs. But fans of a different opinion argue that Kievan Rus has nothing to do with it. Serpentine ramparts were built in the 2nd century BC. BC e. - VIII c. n. e. our ancient ancestors - the Slavs. Thus they defended themselves from nomadic tribes. These embankments did not serve as a means of defense, since they were built from the ground and could be overcome. Their main purpose was the ability to deter and slow down enemy horse raids.

The effect of surprise did not work, and in the meantime, local residents received a signal from the watchtower near the embankment, where the duty officer was sitting. While the enemy tribes overcome the ditch and rampart, the allies had time to gather for battle or hide if necessary. Which of these two thoughts is true is still unknown. The reason for this is an inaccurate examination of the shafts. Nevertheless, the history of Russia before Baptism is rich in a huge number of tribes living in this territory. They did not have their own state with a permanent army, so they needed at least some kind of protection. Kievan Rus was a powerful state, so it could repulse the unexpected attacks of the nomads.

Where did the name "Serpent Shafts" come from?

Even in ancient times, when legends about Russian heroes Alyosha Popovich, Dobrynya Nikitich, Nikita Kozhemyak appeared, there was an ancient prophecy. According to him, Nikita Kozhemyaka managed to catch the people's enemy - the Serpent-Gorynych. People were too angry at this monster, which brought them a lot of grief. They aredid not know what to do with this monster, and finally decided: Kozhemyaka harnessed it and drove through the entire territory of Russia. They left a deep trail. This is a ditch, and the earth from it lay down in a rampart. These are all legends and prophecies. In fact, instead of the Serpent-Gorynych, ordinary people were harnessed to the furrow, who built such a land structure. Having stood for more than 10 centuries, it never ceases to amaze contemporaries. But in Ukraine, cultural monuments are not greatly honored: while in other countries these ramparts are under state protection and are a historical monument, here they can be destroyed due to the construction of a highway or put under a sown field.