New studies of the Early Iron Age hillfort of Igutyevo 1 in the Tver Volga region

The paper reviews materials of archaeological excavations of Igutyevo 1, which is an Early Iron Age hillfort, by the expedition of Tver State University in 2019 and 2023. It analyzes planigraphy and stratigraphy of the excavation trench, specific characteristics of the occupation layer, and the composition of the assemblage of finds. It also focuses on the identified defensive constructions (remains of the fencing and earthwork along the hillfort edge). These constructions represent the initial period of the site fortification history and have parallels across a wide area of the Early Dyakovo culture. The paper also analyzes the finds not characteristic of the early Dyakovo culture. These objects demonstrate a wide geography of links between the Igutyevo 1 population and the population of the Upper Dnieper region as well as the Upper Oka region in the second half of the first millennium BC. A probability of migration of some population groups from these regions roughly in the 5th-3rd centuries BC cannot be ruled out.