 They later became known as Zaporozhian Cossacks (Zaporizhia – the lands south of Prydniprovye, translate as "The Land Beyond the Weirs [Rapids]").This was a period of raids and fighting causing considerable devastation and depopulation in that area; the area became known as the Wild Fields.Archeological findings strongly suggest that the first fortified town in what is now Dnipro was probably built in the mid-16th century.