Kholky site of ancient settlement, Archaeological hillfort near the village of Kholki, Chernyansky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia

The Kholky hillfort stands on a high promontory on the right bank of the Oskol River near the village of Kholki, formed by the confluence of two deep ravines. It is divided into two parts outlined by earthen ramparts and ditches; in front of the walls a ditch up to 8 m wide and 4 m deep was cut into the chalk bedrock. The walls were a chain of timber frames filled with earth.

The hillfort's cultural layers date to the Scythian period and the 12th–14th centuries. In the Middle Ages it was a border fortress of the Chernigov land, with walls of timber frames filled with earth and a moat cut into chalk. Archaeologist S. A. Pletnyova attributed it to the Old Russian period and suggested it was the medieval town of Oskol.

The fortress walls were rows of timber frames packed with earth, and a ditch up to 8 m wide and 4 m deep was cut into the chalk bedrock in front of them. Excavations found dwellings, workshops and nine burials inside the walls, plus yurt-shaped buildings with open hearths that point to non-Slavic inhabitants; pottery shows Alan-Bulgar traits.

The hillfort lies on a high promontory above the right bank of the Oskol, near the village of Kholki, formed by two deep ravines. Excavations are not currently underway, and the finds are kept in the Starooskolsky Museum of Local Lore. The site is unmarked, so use the coordinates 50.86418, 37.75406 for navigation.

Excavations uncovered nine burials inside the fortress rather than outside it, and no unfortified settlement (posad) around the walls — signs the site was permanently under threat of raids. Archaeologists also found yurt-shaped dwellings with open hearths unlike those of the Slavic inhabitants.