ДАТУВАННЯ МУРІВ ПЕЧЕРСЬКОГО МОНАСТИРЯ: АНАЛІЗ ТА КРИТИКА ДЖЕРЕЛЬНОЇ БАЗИ

The purpose of the research is to analyze the written and the archaeological sources, which contain the information on the Ancient Rus' ramparts of the Pechersk monastery and to underline the importance of the correct reading of the epistle from the 12th century, that helps to find out the date of the excavated archaeological complex of the ramparts. The methodology of research is based on the principles of historicism and interdisciplinary approach. The following general-historical methods are used: historiographical analysis, historical-genetic, terminological analysis, comparative, typological. Methods of dating archaeological complexes are used also (stratigraphic, typological and dating method by analogy). The authors adhere to the civilizational approach and principles of cultural and intellectual history. Academic novelty. The analysis of archaeological sources for the excavation of the fortified walls of the Pechersk Monastery from 1951 to 2018 is presented for the first time. An analysis of the correspondence of the recipient of the epistol Cyril of Turov is presented. Conclusions. V.Bohusevych fixed the location of the ramparts for the first time in 1951. The next steps were made by V.Kharlamov in 1991-1992 and by S.Balakin in 2007. But these excavations had rescue character or were made on small area. So, the results of these researches need to be checked and itemized. One of the things to be checked is the date of the starting point of the ramparts' construction. Archaeological materials allow to date the time of the ramparts' building widely - eve of the 12th - early 13th centuries. The right commenting of the only mention of the ramparts in the written source of the 12th century ("The letter of one old man to archimandrite Vasylii") may help to make this time more specific. Today we have the currently accepted author and addressee of this letter. They show that the ramparts could be built during the dignity of a hegumen Vasylii. But also, the point of view that the construction could be held during the dignity of a hegumen Polikarp exists. The correct interpretation of the letter's addressee could provide rather narrow period of the walls' building, which can not be done by archaeological methods. Such perspective opens new possibilities for more accurate dating of some categories of excavation findings, plinth form bricks, first of all. It may become more sustainable tool for determination of time of construction of other Ancient Rus' monumental complexes, which could not be dated basing only on the written sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]