The debate over Smolensk - the city of the Krivichs

The paper describes materials from recent excavations on Cathedral Hill in Smolensk. Stratigraphical sections of the test-pits along the fringe of the upper site of the Hill indicate that defensive earthen works dating to the first half of the 9th century based on archaeological finds and the radiocarbon method existed in the Hill. There is an occupation layer under the earthen works, its oldest horizon contains ceramics related with the Kolochin tradition and is dated within the 4th-6th (7th) centuries, whereas the main assemblage of the finds is dated back to the (7th) 8th - 9th centuries and includes ceramics and items typical of Smolensk-Polotsk long kurgans. The economy of the population was based on agriculture and animal husbandry as documented by the analysis of the osteological assemblage and finds of grains of cultivated crops. According to the proposed interpretation, the settlement on Cathedral Hill was the Smolensk city of the Krivichs mentioned in ancient chronicles.