The Settlement of Zalesye at the Selizharovsky River Reach (Early Iron Age and Early Middle Ages according to N.N. Gurina)
During excavations of the Neolithic sites of Zalesye-1 and Zalesye-2 by Nina N. Gurina in 1973–1975, some materials of the Early Iron Age and early Middle Ages (Fig. 1) were encountered in the upper horizons. These finds so far have not been published. In the upper layer at the settlement-site of Zalesye, there were found numerous dark humic and charcoal-containing stains with early mediaeval pottery (Fig. 2–4). The field records and drawings suggest the existence of the remains of at least four surface buildings with fireplaces and under-floor pits in the virgin soil within the excavation area here. Two of the structures had pillars.

The ceramic collection preserved and archive evidence suggest that there were three settlements of different periods of occupation at the site. The settlement-site of the second half of the 1st millennium BC was represented by textile ceramics (Fig. 5, 7, 8). Its cultural belonging is not clear. The settlement of the second quarter of the 1st millennium AD yielded a weight of the Dyakov type (now lost from the collection) and decorated handmade pottery (Fig. 5, 1–6, 9) known from sites of the Varvarina Gora type. Settlements of that type arose apparently due to a cultural pulse from the Upper Dvina region. The settlement-site of the middle and third quarter of the 1st millennium AD yielded smooth-walled ware, including a polished clay spindle-whorl (Fig. 5, 12, 18–20, 22–30). This latter settlement-site evidently belongs to the culture of the Pskov long kurgans. With the latter culture, possibly also the finds of pottery of the Moshchino culture are connected (Fig. 5, 10, 13–16, 21).