page 103–111 RUS
ÓÄÊ 903.5 EDN: NYOSGG
Trestle forts in the Russian State from the 16th to the early 18th century
Sergey V., Gorokhov, PhD in History, Researcher, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia, gorokhov.sv@yandex.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8100-5924
Summary
One variant of fortification palisade systems was the trestle fort (kozelchaty ostrog) — a type of defensive structure whose design has remained poorly understood and largely hypothetical. The aim of the study, the results of which are presented in this article, is to reconstruct the structural configuration of trestle walls. The research draws upon a diverse source base, incorporating written, visual, and linguistic materials. Based on the analysis of linguistic data spanning the 16th to the 20th century, four distinct hypotheses regarding the construction of trestle forts’ walls were formulated. It has been revealed that three of these hypotheses are inconsistent with written sources. One hypothesis, however, finds convincing support in both written and visual materials dating to the 16th–17th centuries. The study concludes that trestle forts consisted of two parallel rows of palisade stakes, not embedded in the ground, but rather inclined toward each other so that individual stakes intersected in their upper sections. Two distinct structural variants of kozelchaty ostrogs have been identified. It is also concluded that trestle forts are highly unlikely to be identifiable through conventional archaeological excavations.
Keywords: Russian State, fortification, wooden defensive structures, kozelchaty ostrog, lattice ostrog.
© Gorokhov S.V., 2026
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Received 22.06.2025
Accepted 02.03.2026
Article is published: 15.06.2026
Funding. This study was carried out under the State Assignment of the RF Ministry of Education and Science, Project No. FSUS-2025-0009 “Specific Aspects of Formation of Intercultural Communications in Siberia — from the Stone Age to the Early Modern Age (According to Archaeological and Written Sources)”.
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