Polish-Ukrainian Koshary Project, seasons 2007–2008

In 2007, a Polish-Ukrainian expedition operating within the framework of the Koshary Project conducted the tenth season of excavations on the complex of sites in Koshary. Within the trenches III and VII exploration of layers and features (mainly storage pits) discovered in 2006 was continued. Field works conducted in this part of the site allowed to reveal the eastern border of the fortified town. Outside it the remains of “suburb” are located, which were the subject of investigations during the campaigns 2003-2005. Trench VIII provided some new informations. Relics of town’s fortifications were uncovered here in the form of stone wall and ditch. The wall itself had not been preserved, but its trace, left after the dismantling of presumably regular blocks cut from limestone. The ditch laid at a distance of 10 m away from the face of the wall and might have served as a moat. Both the wall and ditch ran in the southeasterly direction, toward the edge of the liman. Future explorations should determine the extent of destruction suffered by the eastern part of the settlement due to the collapse of the promontory edge in this area. As a result of investigations made up to 2007 (both archaeological excavations and geophysical prospection), it may be assumed that the main part of the “town”, encompassing the architectural relics uncovered in trenches III, IV (explored in 1998–2002) and VII was situated in the northeastern part of the promontory, on naturally elevated ground. It was walled off from the northwest, west and south by a defence wall with a system of ditches. This then would have been the fortified town, the space inside the walls packed with houses built of stone and dried brick. The evidence now favours the existence of an open settlement outside the fortified enclosure – a “suburb”, comprising scattered, isolated homesteads, such as Farm 1 discovered in trench VI (2003-2005).