BUKOVYNA HISTORY:
Human settlements in this region date back to the Paleolithic era. The remains of more than 100 settlements, from 15,000 to 40,000 years old, have been uncovered.
The northern part of Bukovyna, which comprises the territory of the present region, was part of Kyivan Rus'-Ukraine in the 10th - 12th centuries. In the 12th -13th centuries it was part of the Galician-Volynian Principality, which was later conquered by the Golden Horde. In 1345, when Hungarian armies expelled the Tatars from the Right-Bank of the Dnister river, northern Bukovyna fell under Hungarian rule. In the mid-14th century it was conquered by Moldavia and in 1514 by Turkey.
During the Russo-Turkish war of 1768-74, Bukovyna became part of Austria, under whose control it remained until 1918 . After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in November 1918 the Bukovynian population opted for annexation in Ukraine. In response the Rumanian army occupied Bukovyna, which remained under Rumanian control for 22 years.
During the years of foreign occupation, which were particularly harsh under Soviet rule with its policy of total Russification, the Ukrainian population was able to preserve its language, customs, and traditions.
The Bukovynian land is rich in monuments from the ancient past. Remnants of the Trypillian culture have been excavated in 300 sites. Materials uncovered near the villages of Moldove and Komarove, and in Polyvany Yar in the Sokyryansky district, have led scholars to conclude that these settlers were an established people, rather than a group of migrating tribes.
During archaeological excavations more than 50 different objects made by the Scythians in the early Iron Age period were uncovered. The unity of the tribes inhabiting the upper regions of the Dnipro and Dnister rivers is attested by numerous remnants uncovered in the villages of Lenkivtsi, Kruhlyk, and Ostrytsi in the Kelmenetsky, Khotyn, and Novoselytsky districts, respectively.
These remains portray the evolution of the early Slavic Chernyakhiv culture in Bukovyna. (2nd-6th century BC). |
