The West Fortification of the Bilsk Hillfort in the First Half of the 17th Century

Abstract

The Bilsk hillfort is a massive settlement site of the Left-Bank Dnipro forest-steppe. Its fortifications were built by a Scythian population; after the Scythians left the site, it remained uninhabited for a long time. The fortifications covered a large area and for several centuries were home and refuge to small settlements of Slavic farmers, but they were never fully inhabited. In the late 16th century, saltpeter mining became widespread in the southeastern provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. One of the hubs of saltpeter production in Left-Bank Ukraine was the town of Myrhorod, where the center of the so-called Saltpeter State was located. On the site of the West Fortification of the Bilsk hillfort, saltpeter mining began in the early 17th century. There were large barrows and earthworks in this sector with a high natural saltpeter content. Initially, temporary camps were established near the Bilsk hillfort, where workers lived during the warm season. Later, a small stationary settlement, possibly a colony of saltpeter workers, appeared there. In the 1630s and 1640s, the Bilsk hillfort came to the attention of the interstate commission to fix the border between the Kyiv Voivodeship and Putyvl District. Initially, it was proposed to divide the area of the hillfort in half, but later it was left as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1646, the middle reaches of the Vorskla River were occupied by the private army of Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki. At this time, the temporary settlement near the West Fortification was moved east, to the source of the small Bilsk Spring. Here it was transformed within a few years from a sloboda colony into an unfortified town that had its own self-government, and in 1648 became part of the Poltava Cossack Regiment.