NARODYCHI IN THE MIDDLE AGES

The article attempts to summarize the existing published and known archival sources on the history of the Narodychі town, located in the north of Zhytomyr Region. The results of archaeological research of the town are also generalize, carried out in 1925—1927, 2013 and 2020. It is mistakenly considered that Narodychi were first made known in the revision of the Ovruch castle in 1545. In fact, Narodychi, as a domain or benefice of the Yelеts noble family, are mentioned in official documents from the 3rd quarter of the 15th century. At the beginning of the 17th century Narodychi grow into a town in which a wooden and earthen castle is built. During the 16th—18th centuries, Narodychі was successively owned to the noble families of Yeltsy, Fox-Potocki and Pavshi. After the divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the town was expropriated to the treasury of the Russian Empire. The first archaeological researches on the territory of the town were conducted Ivan Levytskyi in 1925—1927. He explored and described the remains of three fortifications in the center of Narodychi, an adjacent unfortified settlement and a burial mound. The results of these studies remained unpublished. The latest archaeological researches of the town were conducted under the author’s direction. During the explorations in 2013, the ancient fortifications sites were identified, the historical topography of the town was clarified, and numerous ceramic materials from the Old Rus’ period, the post-Mongol era, the Middle Ages, and the Early Modern times were found. There were stationary works on the area of fortifications in summer of 2020. As a result, the strength and degree of preservation of cultural layers were clarified, the remains of archaeological objects were recorded (a cellar with artifacts of the 2nd part of 17th century, a wood-chemical production facility, a roaster), the assumptions about the settlement of the central part of Narodychi in the Old Rus’ period were confirmed, data on almost continuous development of town in the Middle Ages was obtained, promising areas for further archaeological research were determined.