Snake wall
Serpent Wall ( Ukrainian Змієві вали ; Russian Змиевы валы ) is a landmark in northern Ukraine , near Kiev . It includes an older system of fortification walls and more modern fortifications from World War II .
The older ramparts were built using the radiocarbon method from the 2nd century BC. Dated to the 7th century AD. It is not clearly known who built it. Hypotheses speak of Sarmatians , Ostrogoths and early Eastern Slavs ( Anten ). The walls should obviously protect against the nomads from the southern steppes . The known remains of the ramparts have a total length of 1000 kilometers.
In the epoch of the Kievan Rus the serpent walls were expanded under Grand Duke Vladimir the Great and his successors. Newer sections contain wooden hulls inside that stabilize the earthen walls around them. The height of the now heavily eroded snake walls was about 8 to 10 m. Scientists suggested that wooden fortifications existed on the snake walls in Vladimir's time. Traces of a ditch can be found along the snake walls on the southern side.
