Vikenty Khvoyka. Tireless Seeker of the Ancient

Vikenty Khvoyka (1850 – 1914) occupies a special place in the history of Ukrainian archeology as an important researcher. His life path was filled with hard work, which gave way to many new discoveries. The Museum - Kyiv Museum of Antiquities and Arts, one of the successors of which is the National Museum of the History of Ukraine (NMIU), was an integral part of the creative life of Vikenty Khvoyka.

V. Khvoyka was one of the founders of the museum, holding the position of director until 1902 and then as curator of the archaeological department until the end of his life. In love with the antiquities of the ancient inhabitants of the Middle Dnieper region, V. Khvoyka devoted more than 20 years of his short life to archeology. He discovered and explored numerous archaeological sites - from the Stone Age to the Medieval Ages.

The greatest archaeological achievement of V. Khvoika was the discovery of one of the brightest cultures of the Copper Age. The first monuments of this culture were discovered in 1895 in Kyiv, on the Cyrillic Heights. Later, after excavations of several settlements near the town of Trypillia in the Kyiv region, the culture was given the appropriate name - Trypillia. The archaeologist devoted many years to the study of culture. He excavated more than 500 Trypillian monuments. 

The archaeologist also contributed to the study of the monuments of the Early Iron Age. He conducted large-scale excavations of barrows in the Middle Dnieper region and investigated several Scythian settlements (Pastyrske, Motronynske, and Novo-Budkivske), which significantly expanded the understanding of the population and the nature of the economy. This was an important contribution to the archeology of the Scythian period because most archaeologists at that time excavated mounds.

Another bright page of V. Khvoyka's legacy was the study of the monuments of the Slavic times. He is credited with the discovery of the Zarubinets (end of the 3rd century BC - 2nd century AD) and Chernyakhiv cultures (3rd - beginning of the 5th century AD).

The discovery by V. Khvoika of burial grounds near the villages of Zarubyntsi (1899) and Chernyakhiv (1900) became a significant archaeological event. His research started a debate about the ethnicity of the archaeological sites of discovered cultures. Zarubynetsky (Zarubyntsi cemetery) and Chernyakhiv (Chernyakhiv cemetery) antiquities became some of the first exhibits at the museum.

V. Khvoyka was very interested in the study of ancient Ruthian monuments, particularly in Kyiv. As early as 1894, he began researching Castle Hill. The researcher's excavations on Starokyivska Gora in 1907–1908 are one of the highlights of the archaeological study of ancient Kyiv, despite the imperfect methodology and the lack of drawings and photographic records. V. Khvoyka opened several craft workshops, the remains of a stone palace, and a mysterious building, which he defined as a sanctuary (shrine).

The sites opened by V. Khvoika have entered the treasury of the national cultural heritage of Ukraine. The researcher's dream of having the archaeological findings he obtained on display in Kyiv came true. The materials from the excavations of the tireless seeker of antiquities, more than 34,000 items, are an integral part of the NMIU collection.