Description:
The article discusses the problem of continuity of the ethno-cultural development of the native population
of Ovruch region during the past thousand years. It is based on the materials of ethno-archaeological
expeditions of the Research Institute of Ukrainian Studies of the Ministry of Education and Science of
Ukraine and the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 2016. Numerous
archaeological and writing sources convincingly testify to continuous development of many inhabited
locations in Ovruch region from the end of the 10th century to this time. Especially it touches the family
centres of the Ovruch suburbian gentry, which by tradition leads to the genealogy of combatants and boyars
of Kyiv Rus. From the archaeological data, a considerable part of villages of Ovruch region was founded
in the 10–12th centuries and has been continuously developing to this time. Numerous cemeteries of the
region are located directly on the burial mound dating back to the times of Kyiv Rus. Continuous development
during the past millennium is demonstrated by materials of castles of ancient settlements of the towns of
Norinsk and Ovruch.
A genetic connection of autochtons of the Ovruch ridge with the Russ population of the region of the
10–13th centuries is a persuasive argument on behalf of the Early Middle Ages version of the origin of the
Ukrainian ethnos. Ukrainians, like the majority of peoples of the middle zone of Europe (English, French,
Spanish, Germans, Poles, Czechs, Serbians, Croats, and the like), originated in Early Middle Ages (the
5–7th centuries) and have continuously developed in their ethnic areas to this time. Archaeological materials
from numerous settlements of Ovruch region and Late Middle Age chronicles of the 15–18th centuries give
convincing proofs on behalf of the Early Middle Age sources of the Ukrainian people.
