Medieval Christian funeral sites on the territory of Halych-Volynian lands: archaeological research until 1939
Authors: Lutsyk Iryna 
Published: December 2022

The regions that formed the basis of the administrative-territorial boundaries of the Volyn and Halych lands during the princely period, and of the Halych-Volynian state since 1199, and where Christian burial sites have been discovered, include the modern territories of Ukraine (Volyn, Prykarpattia, Podillia and Bukovyna), as well as historical lands along the Ukrainian-Polish border. Since the XIV century the mentioned lands repeatedly fell under the authority of other states in which, in the following centuries, interest in cultural heritage arose, and subsequently science, including archaeological, became and developed. The tasks set before the researchers, approaches, as well as interest in the study of burial sites, despite similar trends, were not the same.
Studying a wide range of sources and literature on the researched topic made it possible to single out a number of burial sites, which are represented by various types of burials that were discovered during the middle of the 19th century – 1939. Verification of the source base was carried out, emphasis was placed only on little-known facts of archaeological research.
As a result of the studies, two periods of archaeological research were distinguished: the first half/middle of the 19th century – 1918 – as part of the Russian and Austrian empires (later Austro-Hungarian) and 1918–1939 – as part of Poland.
Research that was carried out in the Russian Empire is characterized as architectural and archaeological. The first period (Russian) can be characterized as architectural and archaeological. It is mainly connected with the search and study of medieval Orthodox churches, and therefore princely burials in Volyn. The main research was carried out within the capitals, chronicles cities and their surroundings. This state of affairs is particularly related to the state occupation policy of the Russian Empire, which provided a scientific justification for the annexation of these lands, which, among other things, was based on the common Orthodox tradition. The results of these studies, especially their archaeological component, have been published in fragments.
Studios in the Austrian Empire are distinguished by the institutionalization of science, and the formation of principles and approaches to archaeological excavations. The results of the research were published to a greater or lesser extent, but regularly, in professional issues. High intensity of archaeological searches was noted. They were especially active in Podillya. As a result, many burials were discovered, among which a significant percentage was under the slab, which was easily found on the surface of the earth. Due to this, in addition to accidental finds of burials, full-scale professional excavations were conducted, including with the involvement of anthropologists.
The second period (Polish) is shorter. This stage was not distinguished by significant qualitative methodical changes, as well as the level of publication of research results. On the contrary, the latter, even under the conditions of long-term stationary excavations, was extremely abstract or generalized. Nevertheless, this period is associated with more active research on burial sites by Ukrainian scientists.
Key words: history of research, archaeology, burials, Christianity, the Middle Ages, Rus’.