Kamianka fortified settlement

Kamianka fortified settlement (Кам’янське городище; Kamianske horodyshche). The ruins of a large (almost 12 km long) fortified settlement located on the left (east) bank of the Dnipro River opposite the present-day city of Nikopol in Zaporizhia oblast. The site was excavated by D. Serdiukov in 1899–1900 and by B. Grakov in 1938–41 and 1944–50. Large, wooden ground dwellings and pit dwellings and an acropolis were excavated. This trading and metalworking center was probably Ateas's capital of Scythia. It is the largest Scythian settlement discovered in Ukraine after the Bilsk fortified settlement. Beyond its walls other settlements of that and later periods and a burial ground of the Cherniakhiv culture were found. The inhabitants of the settlement engaged in farming, animal herding, and trade, particularly with the Hellenic colonies on the Black Sea coast (see Ancient states on the northern Black Sea coast). The settlement was abandoned, except for the acropolis, in the 3rd century BC. At the beginning of the 18th century the fortress Kamianyi Zaton was built on the site by Peter I to defend against Tatar incursions. Most of the ruins are now submerged by the Kakhovka Reservoir. The settlement has been described in books by B. Grakov (1954) and I. Griaznov (1978).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]