Time machine - archeology

STARAYA RUSSIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF A MEDIEVAL CITY.

Staraya Russa (until the 16th century - Rusa) - the largest medieval center Novgorod land in the Southern Priilmenye (Fig. 1), which has not yet received a proper assessment in historical science. Archaeological research in Staraya Russa was undertaken repeatedly: in 1939 (headed by A.A. Strokov); in 1966-1978 (head - A.F. Medvedev); in 1985-1998 (supervisor - V.G. Mironova). To date, more than 1500 sq. m of the cultural layer, but the excavation materials have not yet been actually generalized and not introduced into scientific circulation.

In 1999, the archaeological expedition of the Novgorod State University. Yaroslav the Wise continued her research at the Borisoglebsk excavation area of ​​225 sq. m., located in the courtyard of house number 46/61 on Mineralnaya Street in Staraya Russa.

Scheme of the location of the Borisoglebsk excavation.

The excavation was laid in 1988 by an archaeological expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. During the decade, from 1988 to 1998, with interruptions in 1990, as well as in 1993-1996, 3.4 m of the cultural layer dating back to the second half of the 12th-17th centuries was studied.

Borisoglebsky excavation. General form.

In 1999, important data were obtained, reflecting various aspects of the life of a medieval city in the first half of the 12th century. Three building tiers of the pavement of the ancient Borisoglebskaya street and manor buildings (8 buildings for various purposes) to the west and east of it were studied. The collection of finds included 845 objects made of metals, wood, bone, leather and other materials. Among them, a special place is occupied by 4 birch bark documents - letters No. 33-36.

In 2000, the strata of the second half of the 11th - early 12th centuries were studied. (depth 4 - 4.8 m). The cultural layer was a dark brown humus with inclusions of wood chips and various impurities. In the course of the work, the pavement of Borisoglebskaya Street, the exit from the pavement, palisades, the intra-estate pavement and 1 building were investigated.

The manor layout in the studied strata, in general, corresponds to that studied in later layers. The pavement of Borisoglebskaya street was still fixed in the central part of the excavation. It is oriented in the direction NNW-SSE. The design of the street is similar to that of Novgorod: flooring - logs - linings - intertier filling. The excavation partly included two farmsteads: to the west of the street – farmstead A; to the east - the estate of B.

At the same time, the interior of the estate has changed significantly. If in the later strata the estate A was adjacent to the flooring of Borisoglebskaya street in the residential part, then in the layers studied in the past season, not a single residential or outbuilding was recorded.

The entrance to estate B disappears and in its southern part the remains of a log building measuring 3.4 x 3.4 m were found, from the filling of which comes a very interesting complex of finds, which includes an encolpion cross and a Western European denarius.

Finds from the log house of B.

An interesting feature of the studied layers is more significant than last year, the amount of wood waste, including used or broken wooden objects used to pave the most damp areas of manor yards. Apparently, this is due to the increased humidity of the studied area of ​​the city during this period of time.

The 2000 collection includes 929 individual finds, as well as mass material - ceramics, animal bones, fish, skin scraps, hazelnut shells, nails, felt. Virtually all categories of objects typical of a medieval city are represented, made of wood, leather, bone, metal, etc.

Leather goods, primarily footwear items, were found in 234 copies. They are represented by all known groups: pistons, shoes, boots. At the same time, several new species, not previously encountered, were noted. In addition, fragments of a scabbard and a purse (or a small bag) were found.

Iron objects made up the most numerous category of finds - 293 specimens. Among them are locks, keys, a fragment of spring scissors, buckles, hooks, a comb, a sickle, an amulet hatchet, brooches and fragments of other items. Particularly noteworthy are the numerous finds of tsrens - fragments of baking trays for evaporating salt, indicating the presence of a salt industry.

Products made of wood, the most common material, are represented by 257 copies. These are tools of labor - rakes, checkmaries; spinning accessories - spindles; dishes - fragments of turned dishes, spoons, a trough (some specimens are decorated with skillful carvings. Letters are inscribed on the handle of one of the spoons and on the bottom of the bowl); carved details of the interior decoration of the house. The gingerbread board and carved zoomorphic figurine deserve the most attention.

Finds from non-ferrous metals are not numerous (11 specimens). These are the already mentioned bronze encolpion cross, a serpentine amulet, a Western European silver denarius, a false ring, an overlay made of white alloy, a fragment of a bronze plate ornamented bracelet.

Hello friends!!!)))

We brought our eldest son to work in the Old Russian archaeological expedition, to our old friends)))

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According to archaeological data, the city arose in the second half of the 10th century, thanks to salt mines. The first known written mention is in the 12th century as a city of artisans and state-owned salt works. Due to its location on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks", trade developed, and Staraya Russa was among the largest cities of the then Russian lands. During the Novgorod campaigns of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible, as well as during the Time of Troubles, the population of the city declined sharply (out of 8 thousand, only 38 people survived!).
The city was visited by Emperor Peter I, on whose orders salt production was expanded, crafts were created for logging for shipyards.
Since 1776 Staraya Russa - county town Novgorod province.
In 1878, on the salt springs of the eastern part of the city, a balneological resort was created, one of the oldest in Russia, which today is the main glory of the city. to the resort in different time many prominent figures of Russia came.

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This is what the Pyatnitsky excavation site looks like, which is located next to the Resort and not far from the Salt Lake. Now there is a study of cultural layers of the XIV century. In this field season, two birch-bark letters #47 and #48 have already been found.

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Here's a little closer:

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Now the reconstruction of the Cathedral Square and the Central Alley is underway, communications are being shifted, all construction work is preceded by protective archaeological research. Look at the scale of the work:

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The central alley is located on the site of the lost Trade Rows, whose foundations are currently being explored.

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Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery.
Desert is based on the right bank of the river. Polist in 1192 by Martyry "Rushanin" (later - Archbishop of Novgorod, canonized).
Until the 17th century there is very little information about the monastery; it is only known that there was one stone church of the Savior (1198), dismantled and rebuilt "on the old basis" in the middle of the 15th century. Archbishop Euthymius II. Now the monastery is in the line modern city, northeast of its center.
After the "Swedish ruin" the monastery was significantly expanded: in 1628 - 1630s. the Church of the Savior was rebuilt, the stone churches of the Nativity of Christ, the Presentation of Christ with a refectory, “under the bells” of an unknown dedication (bell tower) were erected. All these buildings have been preserved as a compact group.
In the XVIII-XIX centuries. all the ancient buildings were remodeled, new buildings of the monastery and theological school were built. In 1892, in the southern part of the monastery, near the city street, a large cathedral of the Old Russian Icon of the Mother of God was erected, designed in the spirit of eclecticism. In the 1920-1930s. some buildings (walls, towers, a chapel, etc.) were dismantled and several residential four-story houses were built in their place.
During the years of the Great Patriotic War all the monuments of the monastery were seriously damaged and continued to collapse in the future. By the beginning of the restoration work, they were in an emergency state, and some of them were in a semi-ruined state.
Restoration work on the monastery complex was carried out in 1961-1973. (headed by T.V. Gladenko). All ancient buildings have been restored in the forms of the 17th-19th centuries. (Church of the Savior - with the restoration of some elements of the 15th century) and adapted for the local history museum and art gallery of the Starorussky branch of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve, and the Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God - for sports school» - V.A. Yadryshnikov (Architectural heritage of Veliky Novgorod and the Novgorod region).

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AT Museum of Local Lore archeological exhibitions are held annually, telling about new finds of the field season

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South wall of the Cathedral of the Transfiguration

While everything. There are still a lot of video panoramas of Staraya Russa from different points, but I hope they will be posted with detailed descriptions in my blog

Archaeological monuments of the Novgorod land are a unique source of knowledge about the past of the region, which became the birthplace of Russian statehood.

Project "Antiquities of the Novgorod land: electronic base data archaeological finds» is aimed at creating and developing a single information resource of artifacts obtained during archaeological excavations of ancient and medieval monuments of the Novgorod land. The database contains digital images of the finds and the most complete information about each item and provides for remote access for researchers.

The basis of the project is the archaeological collection obtained during the work Center for Archaeological Research NovSU(previously - the educational and scientific laboratory "Old Russian Archaeological Expedition" of Novgorod State University, Department for the Study of Problems of Archeology of the Novgorod Land of Novgorod State University) since 1999 and numbering about 40 thousand items, comprehensively characterizing the material culture of Staraya Russa and other archaeological sites of the Novgorod land, from the Stone Age to the present day. Research at the Pyatnitsky-II excavation site in Staraya Russa supported Russian fund fundamental research(in 2018 - project № 18-09-00375) . The study of the historical center of Staraya Russa in the Middle Ages on the basis of archaeological research is carried out with the support of Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 17‑01‑00180‑OGN).

The first version of the electronic database was developed in 2006 by A. A. Kalinin and was located on the laboratory's local server. In 2011, specialists created a new version A database that provides the ability to work over the Internet. Currently, the database is hosted on the NovSU server cluster.

Currently open for viewing full version databases (materials of the archaeological expedition of Novgorod State University in Staraya Russa and on the territory of the Novgorod region from 2002 to 2017).

In the section "Scientific reports" there are field reports on the results of work in 2002-2015.

You can send your questions, suggestions and comments on the database to the head of the laboratory "Starorusskaya Archeological Expedition": .

copyright

Research at the Pyatnitsky-II excavation site in Staraya Russa is carried out with the support ofRussian Foundation for Basic Research (in 2018-2019 - project 18-09-00375 " City estate medieval Rus: stratigraphy, topography and material culture (based on the latest archaeological research)") . Materials of the Pyatnitsky-I excavation for 2002-2004. and excavation X for 1969-1970. entered into the database with the support Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project 17-01-00180-OGN "The historical center of Staraya Russa in the Middle Ages based on archaeological research" ).

Republishing of texts, photographs and other information is possible only with the permission of the authors and with a link to the resource "":

Antiquities of the Novgorod land: an electronic database of archaeological finds [Electronic resource] // Novgorod State University named after Yaroslav the Wise: site. URL:

Center for Archaeological Research of NovSU, 2017; Department for the Study of the Problems of Archeology of the Novgorod Land of Novgorod State University, 2011-2017; TsNIT NovGU, 2011-2017; E.V. Toropova, S.E. Toropov, K.G. Samoilov, P.P. Kolosnitsyn, E.E. Kolosnitsyna, 2011-2017. Certificate of state registration of the database No. 2013620270.

The 50th birch bark was found at the Pyatnitsky excavation site in Staraya Russa, Novgorod Region. An employee of Yaroslav the Wise Novgorod State University, archaeologist Pavel Kolosnitsyn, reported about his find: “I have been working towards this for 18 years. For 18 years they were found at other excavations, they were found next to me, they were found at the excavation which I led. And today I finally found it myself At the end of the day, I sat down to check the washed birch bark from the boxes in which the bulk material is put from squares. On the fourth tray I take out a small bundle and see letters on it. Today, at the Pyatnitsky excavation site in Staraya Russa, birch bark No. a well-preserved fragment of a birch bark document originating from the layers of the second half of the 13th century. Research is carried out by the Archaeological Expedition of NovSU. Expedition leader - director Humanitarian Institute NovSU Elena Toropova. The head of the excavation is Kirill Samoilov.

Photo from the Facebook page of Pavel Kolosnitsyn

In early July, at the Troitsky excavation site in Veliky Novgorod, they found the first birch bark in this archaeological season. She was assigned the number 1114. A valuable artifact was discovered on July 1 by students of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen. The letter has been poorly preserved. It contains two readable lines (they are still being studied), and the third, apparently the initial one, has been lost. Aleksey Gippius, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented the initial version of the reading of the diploma.

The very first birch bark was discovered on July 26, 1951 at the Nerevsky excavation site in Novgorod. It contained a list of feudal duties ("pozem" and "gift") in favor of three landowners: Thomas, Iev and the third, who may have been called Timothy. This letter was found by Nina Akulova from Novgorod, who came to the excavation to earn some money during her pregnancy leave (a monument was erected on her grave in honor of this find). Already in 1952, the first birch bark was found at the Gnezdovsky settlement near Smolensk - by the expedition of Moscow University led by D.A. Avdusin. This was followed by discoveries in Pskov - by the expedition of G.P. Grozdilov in 1958, in Vitebsk - during construction work in 1959. In Staraya Russa, the first find of birch bark was made in 1966 by an expedition of the Institute of Archeology led by A.F. Medvedev.

In total, over 1200 birch bark letters have been found in the entire history of archaeological excavations, of which 1114 - in Veliky Novgorod, 50 - in Staraya Russa, 19 - in Torzhok, 16 - in Smolensk, 8 - in Pskov, 5 - in Tver, 4 - in Moscow and 8 more diplomas - in Zvenigorod Galitsky, Mstislavl, Vitebsk, Staraya Ryazan and Vologda.

scientific collaborator Department of the study of problems of archeology of the Novgorod land at the REC IGUM NovSU, head. Museum of Archeology of Novgorod State University, author of the archeology blog starcheolog in LiveJournal
"Trinity option" No. 15 (234), August 1, 2017

Staraya Russa (until the 16th century - Rusa) is located south of Lake Ilmen in the modern Novgorod region. Founded at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries, for a long time it was the second largest city in the Novgorod land. Now Staraya Russa, among other things, is the most important and interesting archaeological site. His research is carried out by the Staraya Russian archaeological expedition of the Novgorod state university named after Yaroslav the Wise (NovGU) under the leadership of E. V. Toropova. This year, archaeologists are working in two directions.

The first is the continuation of systematic research at the Pyatnitsky excavation site, which has been conducted since 2002 and is supported by the Department of Humanitarian and social sciences RFBR (project 17-01-18035e). The excavation is located in historical center cities, close to mineral springs, on the territory of the historical core of Rusa. The total thickness of the cultural layer deposited in the 11th–20th centuries in this area reaches 6 m. In it, as, in particular, in the layer of Veliky Novgorod, organic matter is perfectly preserved: wood, leather, bone, fabric, etc.

The remains of buildings allow us to restore the layout of the estate, which fell within the excavation, and many artifacts tell about material culture medieval city.

In the 2017 season, excavations are going on in the layers of the first half - the middle of the 14th century. The estate under study has an atypical layout for that time: residential and industrial premises are located along the perimeter, and numerous floorings are fixed in the central part.

The number of finds is in the hundreds. These are leather shoes, ceramic and wooden utensils, tools, household items, jewelry and much more.

The most striking of the finds of this season are birch-bark letters and bone seals.

The letter is a fragment of a document, from which three lines have been preserved, while the whole is one, the middle one. Only two letters survived from the top, and about half from the bottom. The text reports a certain period or period of time, measured from Ilyin's day (July 20 to julian calendar) until the Great Day - Easter. It would seem that there is not much information, but it is important to mention church holidays in correspondence or a document, which has replenished the linguistic, grammatical, paleographic and other scientific piggy banks.

No less important is the discovery in the 14th century layer of three applied seals for impressions on wax. In shape, they resemble pawns with holes for hanging on a cord. But on the "sole" images are cut out. One depicts an anthropomorphic figure: either an angel with wings, or a person holding something in his hands.

On the second, a certain beast is carved. Similar images are found on jewelry of the 14th-15th centuries, and at the end of independence, the “fierce beast” was depicted on the lead seals of Veliky Novgorod.

The second area of ​​research is rescue archaeological work in the course of a large-scale reconstruction of Cathedral Square and the improvement of the central streets of Staraya Russa.

Cathedral Square, which before the revolution was called Torgovaya Square, appeared rather late, in late XVIII century, after Catherine's redevelopment, as a result of which the city center was moved. For two hundred years, there were shopping arcades and Gostiny Dvor, the remains of which were also found in the course of research. It is not surprising that among the finds there are many coins and trade seals of the 18th - early 19th century. XX century.

Excavations have shown that before the appearance of the square, in the 15th - first half of the 18th century, there were estates and wood-paved streets here. Due to the fact that the cultural layer preserves organic matter, many objects made of leather and wood have been found. Especially a lot of leather shoes. Among the striking finds are a hanging lead seal of the sovereign governor, a mother-of-pearl pectoral cross of the 16th century (the closest analogue of which was found in Latvia, among the remains of a Russian soldier who died during the siege of Cēsis Castle in the Livonian War), a spearhead from the 17th–18th centuries, jewelry and much more .

One of the finds - a whistle from the layers of the 17th-18th centuries - has already become famous, but this fame is largely accidental. Posting the photo on the blog and in the VKontakte group, the archaeologists joked, calling it a dinosaur. The journalists picked it up, and within a day the “dinosaur from Staraya Russa” was known throughout Russia. In fact, the whistle with a melodic sound is most likely a stylized image of a dove.

Despite the abundance of finds, the season is not over yet and will bring many discoveries that you can follow in