September 2, 2016

Publication on archaeological research of Baturyn in the Kozak era

More

Cover of the booklet on the 2015 Baturyn excavations.

“Rozkopky u Baturyni 2015 Roku. Rekonstruktsii Interieriv Palatsu Ivana Mazepy” (Excavations at Baturyn in 2015. Reconstructions of the Interiors of Ivan Mazepa’s Palace), Zenon Kohut, Volodymyr Mezentsev, and Yurii Sytyi. Toronto: Ukrainian Echo Publishing Company Ltd., 2016. 36 pp., 79 color illustrations, paperback. $8.95.

This new booklet continues the series of annually issued, richly illustrated brochures dedicated to the historical, archaeological, architectural and artistic study of Baturyn, one of the capitals of the Kozak Hetman state. It was prepared by Canadian and Ukrainian archaeologists and historians participating in the Baturyn excavations and is geared to both the general public and scholars.

The Kowalsky Program for the Study of Eastern Ukraine at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (PIMS) at the University of Toronto and the Ucrainica Research Institute in Toronto have sponsored the Baturyn project. Prof. Volodymyr Kravchenko, director of CIUS, heads the Kowalsky Program. Prof. Zenon Kohut, the previous director of both the institute and the program and an eminent historian of the Hetmanate, is the academic adviser of this undertaking. The archaeologist Dr. Volodymyr Mezentsev (CIUS Toronto Office) and the renowned historian of Ukraine-Rus’ Prof. Martin Dimnik (PIMS), have participated in the research of Baturyn and the publication of its excavation findings. The archaeologist Yurii Sytyi (Chernihiv National University) oversees the Baturyn Canada-Ukraine expedition. Some 45 students and scholars from universities in Chernihiv, Kyiv and Hlukhiv, Ukraine, took part in the 2015 excavations.

The booklet provides a brief overview of the history of Baturyn during Polish-Lithuanian rule over left-bank Ukraine, the national-liberation war led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky against Poland and the Hetman era. It pays special attention to the reign of Hetman Ivan Mazepa, when the town was his capital and reached the pinnacle of its economic, demographic and cultural development and became known in Western Europe.

The destruction of Mazepa’s capital and the slaughter of its entire military personnel and civilian population by Russian troops in 1708 is described on the basis of the Belarusian Mahiliou Chronicle, which provides a unique, detailed and vivid account of this tragic event.

The authors examine the results of the 2015 excavations of the remnants of 17th and 18th century dwellings and graves of the townsfolk within the former Baturyn fortress, as well as Mazepa’s and General Judge Vasyl Kochubei’s manors and court churches. They also discuss the material culture and lifestyle of the hetman and wealthy Kozak state officials along with their families.

The researchers have revealed hitherto unknown Italian and Polish influences on the ceramic floor pavement patterns and impressive ornamentation of Mazepa’s destroyed principal residence and have published several unprecedented computer reconstructions of its interiors.

The 2015 archaeological explorations have obtained data for locating the sites of the ruined St. Nicholas Church (1698), commissioned by Mazepa, and the household of his closest supporter and chargé d’affaires, General Secretary Pylyp Orlyk, as well as the 17th to 19th century Kerbutivskyi (Novomlynskyi) convent near Baturyn, which the imperial Russian authorities abolished in 1827. New archaeological and physical anthropological evidence about the annihilation of Baturyn’s residents by tsarist troops in 1708 has also been brought to light.

The publication of this booklet was funded by Buduchnist Credit Union (BCU) in Toronto and the Ucrainica Research Institute. Thanks are due to Oksana Prociuk, CEO, and Chrystyna Bidiak, operations and human resources manager of BCU, as well as Orest Steciw, president of this institute and president of the League of Ukrainian Canadians, for providing subsidies to cover the printing and other costs of this booklet, the fifth in a series, and the fourth (2015) booklet.

The brochures of the Baturyn series are 24 to 36 pages long in Ukrainian, contain 50-80 color illustrations, and are printed on glossy paper. They will be of interest to all students of Ukrainian history and antiquities.

The booklets are available for $8.95 each through CIUS Press (4-30 Pembina Hall, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2H8, tel.: 780-492-2973, fax: 780-492-4967, e-mail: [email protected]). These brochures can be ordered online from the CIUS Press website. The last two booklets are also on sale at the office of the National Executive of the League of Ukrainian Canadians (9 Plastics Ave., Toronto, ON, Canada M8Z 4B6; telephone, 416-516-8223; e-mail, [email protected]).

In August, the Canada-Ukraine archaeological expedition, including nearly 60 students and scholars from universities in Chernihiv, Kyiv, Sumy, and Hlukhiv, continues the systematic excavations in Baturyn. Its findings will be analyzed and presented in academic and newspaper articles, a new booklet and public lectures in 2017. Next summer, the expedition will resume the field research in the town. Meanwhile, in the current war situation, the funding of the scholarly project has become increasingly problematic for the Ukrainian government.

The continued support of archaeological explorations in Baturyn and the publication of its materials by Ukrainian organizations, foundations, companies and private benefactors in the United States and Canada will be much-needed in 2016-2017.  Donations may be sent to to: Stan Kamski, Treasurer, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 59 Queen’s Park Crescent E., Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 2C4. (Please make checks payable to: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Memo: Baturyn Project.) The institute will issue official tax receipts to all donors in the U.S.A. and Canada, and they will be gratefully acknowledged in related publications and public lectures.

For additional information or questions about the Baturyn project, readers may contact its executive director, Dr. Mezentsev, in Toronto at 416-766-1408 or via e-mail, [email protected].

Comments are closed.