Where are the excavations taking place? Archaeological excavations: locations

Around 9,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period, parts of what is now the Sahara Desert experienced a very humid climate. For several thousand years this "green Sahara" was home to many domestic and wild animals, as well as people. In 2000, a burial area was discovered in Niger containing hundreds of skeletons from two different archaeological cultures, each dating back thousands of years. In addition to human skeletons, hunting tools, fragments of ceramics, and animal and fish bones were found in the burials.

This dinosaur skeleton, found in Agadez (Niger), was presented to the country of Niger by paleontologist Paul Sereno at a ceremony to mark the end of a five-year civil war. This creature with the body of a dinosaur and the head of a crocodile is about 110 million years old.

Human skeleton with the middle finger inserted into the mouth.
Average daily temperature in this part Sahara desert(49 degrees) is far from the times of the “green Sahara” 4-9 thousand years ago.

Men from one of the local tribes of Niger dancing and singing at the annual festival. Representatives of this tribe may be descendants of those who lived in these places many thousands of years ago, during the existence of the “green Sahara”.

Aerial view of the camp by a small group of archaeologists excavating among the huge sand dunes in the completely deserted region of the Sahara. Looking at these places, it’s hard to believe that thousands of years ago everything here was surrounded by greenery.

Nigerian Army Soldiers, hired to protect archaeologists from a possible attack by bandits, are overseeing the excavation of an old skeleton, which is about 6 thousand years old. In this region of the Sahara, archaeologists have found many skeletons, tools, weapons, pottery shards and jewelry.

Six thousand years ago there were mother and two children buried. They lie in the grave holding hands. Someone carefully placed flowers at their head and at their feet, traces of which were discovered by scientists. How exactly these people died remains unclear.

Frequent sandstorms, whose speed reaches 30 miles per hour, greatly interfere with the work of archaeologists, falling asleep and destroying skeletons.

One of the best-preserved skeletons, lying in the sand for 6 thousand years, looks as if it was buried quite recently. The position of the skeleton suggests that the person was buried in a sleeping position.

Archaeologists are examining the skeleton of a woman who died at the age of twenty.

This man was buried with a pot on his head. Among the grave goods, archaeologists also found crocodile bones and wild boar tusks.

This 8,000-year-old rock carving of a giraffe is considered one of the best petroglyphs in the world. The giraffe is depicted with a leash on its nose, which implies the domestication of these animals by people. This image was discovered relatively recently on the top of Granit Hill by local Tuaregs.

These two skeletons are almost perfectly preserved and were found at the very beginning of the excavation process. The skeleton on the left was found with the middle finger inserted into its mouth. The skeleton on the right was buried in a grave where bones from a previous burial had been pushed to the side.

Interestingly, ancient sands can store information about the last time they “saw” light. To explore the original bottom of the former lake, it is necessary to carry out excavations on a moonless night. Optical luminescent studies of sand carried out in a US laboratory proved that the bottom of this lake was formed 15,000 years ago during the last ice age.

The ancient mounds of the north-east of the Moscow region near Aniskin, Oseev, Obukhovo, Vorya-Bogorodsky can tell us not only about ancient history these places, but also to recall the first steps in the formation of archeology as a scientific historical discipline in Russia. Who took the lead in discovering these silent monuments of the past, who was the first to dare to disturb the ashes of ancient burials with his shovel and pickaxe, when the first excavations were carried out - has long been and firmly forgotten in these places...

Meanwhile, the name of this person is quite well known. He was a Russian zoologist, anthropologist, historian of zoology, one of the founders of Russian anthropology, Anatoly Petrovich Bogdanov (1834-1896) - a man of rare and interesting destiny...

At the beginning of October 1834, a foundling was found in the gatehouse of the church in the village of Bogoroditskoye, Voronezh province. The owner of the neighboring estate, E.F. Tatarinova took him into her house. Tatarinova’s mother, Princess G.N., took a great part in the fate of the child, who received the surname Bogdanov from “given by God.” Keykuatova. After Tatarinova’s death, the adopted son turned out to be a serf of her heirs, but the adoptive grandmother soon managed to take him into her home. Enrolling a serf in a provincial gymnasium was unthinkable, but the unexpected petition of Archbishop Anthony of Voronezh and Zadonsk helped. Having successfully graduated from high school, Anatoly Bogdanov entered the natural sciences department of the Physics and Mathematics Department of Moscow University in 1851 and in 1855 graduated from the course with the title of candidate. The talent of the student, who was still considered a serf, was noticed by teachers, and his work “On the signs of identifying sedimentary rock formations” was awarded a silver medal and was recommended for publication.

The foster grandmother continued to help her foster child. With 15,000 rubles given by her, he bought a house in Moscow, on Spasopeskovsky Lane.

At her expense, after completing the course, he went on a scientific trip to Germany, Belgium and France, where the young scientist became acquainted with the latest achievements of Western European science. In 1858, under the leadership of his scientific supervisor, Karl Frantsevich Roulier (1814-1858), A.P. Bogdanov joined the committee for the preparation of the Acclimatization Exhibition, the holding of which predetermined the opening of the Moscow Zoological Garden.

Karl Frantsevich Roulier (1814-1858).

But even here the scientist was in trouble. The defense of his master's thesis "On the color of bird feathers" in 1858 almost ended in failure, but thanks to the help of K.F. Roulier, A.P. Bogdanov still managed to soon take a position as a teacher at Moscow University. At the age of 23 he became an adjunct, at the age of 29 (1863) - an extraordinary professor and head of the Zoological Museum.

During these years, he buried his grandmother, finally revealing the secret of his origins. His mother turned out to be none other than this same “grandmother,” and his father was the aforementioned Archbishop Anthony.

In 1863, on the initiative of A.P. Bogdanov, the Society of Natural History Lovers was founded at Moscow University, which entered into competition with the authoritative Society of Natural Sciences, founded in 1805. While “testers” accepted only specialists, “amateurs” accepted everyone.
The authority of the scientist in the scientific community was quite low. Most colleagues considered A.P. Bogdanov is a clever and unprincipled careerist.

Token "Society of Natural History Lovers at Moscow University."

In 1864, the Society of Amateurs created a department of anthropology and ethnography, which was absent in the Society of Testers. In the same 1864 A.P. Bogdanov became interested in a new field for himself - anthropology.

In the Podolsk district of the Moscow province, human skulls were found extracted from ancient mounds, two of which were personally given to A.A. Bogdanov. Gatsuk.

From here.

Lithograph depicting objects and human remains from the mounds of the Moscow province (summer 1865). From here. Excavations began widely the following year, 1865, when A.P. personally Bogdanov and his collaborators examined 129 mounds in nine districts of the Moscow province (only two districts were not covered - Klinsky and Dmitrovsky). It was excavated in Bogorodsky district greatest number mounds - 43 [Bogdanov A.P. Materials for the anthropology of the Kurgan period in the Moscow province. 1867, p.12]. In the vicinity of the city, Setun, excavations were carried out by Bogdanov himself with the participation of A.P. Fedchenko. A young biologist, Nikolai Karlovich Zenger (d. 1877), worked in Cherkizovo. Personally A.P. Bogdanov led excavations northeast of Moscow, in the villages of Bogorodsky district: Aniskin, Oseev and Vorya-Bogorodsky, (now), Obukhov and the churchyard of Peter and Paul (now Noginsk district), and also visited excavations in Mozhaisky (Vlasyevo), Vereisky (village Krymskoye, Ruzsky district), Zvenigorodsky (Yabedino, Istra district) and Podolsk (Dubrovichi, Dobryatino, Zabolotye and Pokrov) counties.

The study of skulls from the indicated burials of A.P. Bogdanov devoted two works: “The Kurgan tribe of the Moscow province” and the monograph “Materials for the anthropology of the Kurgan period in the Moscow province.” For the latter in 1867 A.P. Bogdanov was awarded a doctorate without defending a dissertation.

In "Materials" A.P. Bogdanov noted: “The Bogorodsk mounds had the peculiarity that many of them, after pouring an arshin and a half of land above the deceased, were covered with large stones and then covered with earth again” [Bogdanov A.P. Materials for the anthropology of the Kurgan period in the Moscow province. 1867, p.14].
In Bogorodsky district, excavations were directly carried out by Nikolai Fedorovich Petrovsky , N.I. Kulakovsky and M.G. Vinogradov. The excavations were assisted by the former district police officer N.P. Bogdanov and staff caretaker V.M. Mikhailov. The "Materials" provides short description examined four mound groups:
"Obukhov Kurgans lie near the village of Obukhovaya, next to the Tyulyaev factory, near Shelovka and 10 versts from Bogorodsk. Most of the mounds had already been demolished by the owners of the area, and the last remaining ones, apparently, had already been demolished from above, since the skeletons lay covered with a very small layer of earth.
Petro-Pavlovsk mounds lie near Obukhovskiye, on the Shelovka River and on the estate of V.G. Vysotsky. With special gratitude I remember the enlightened assistance that the venerable and deeply respected rector of the local church, Tikhon Matveevich Kolychev, provided me in this area. The mounds lie on a fairly elevated area near the river, in a fairly large group.
Aniskinsky mounds are located near the village of Aniskin along the Ostromyn road, 30 versts from Moscow (along the Klyazma River).
Oseevskie mounds lie on the same river, between the villages of Oseevo and the village of Lukino, on the land of Count Lansky, who allowed the excavation" [Bogdanov A.P. Materials for the anthropology of the Kurgan period in the Moscow province. 1867, p. 124].

The following is a description of the Oseevsky mounds: “The mounds are located in two groups: one on the steepest bank; the other further from the shore, in the field. The near group. Kurg.1. The circumference is 15 fathoms. Depth to bones 2 arsh. 5 vershk. the skeleton lies 1/2 arsh above the mainland. Head to the right side, feet to SE; legs bent, arms along. Around the mound there are pits from the southeast. from. Kurg.2. Circumference 8 fathoms. Depth to bones 2 arsh. 10 vershoks. On the north side of the mound there is a small hole. the skeleton lies on the mainland, with its feet to the SE. head to the side (left), arms along the body. Found on the skeleton were the remains of a headdress with hair and rings. Kurg. 3(distant group) Circumference 12 fathoms. Depth to bone 3 1/2 arch. The frame is on the mainland, head to the right, feet to SE, arms along the body. There is a pit on the north side of the mound. Coal was found in small quantities in all previous mounds. Kurg. 4. Circumference 11 fathoms. Depth to bone 2 1/2 arshins. The backbone is slightly higher than the mainland, in the NO-SE direction. Right hand on the chest, left along the body. On the right hand is a bracelet. In addition, earrings, beads, remnants of hair. Kurg. 5. circumference 12 fathoms. Depth 3 1/4 arch. Dimples on the E.S. and S. of the mound. The skeleton is above the mainland in the NO-SE direction. lined with birch bark. Kurg. 6. Circumference 15 fathoms. Depth to bone 3 3/4 arch. Pit near the mound on the E. and W. Skeleton on the mainland along direction O-E; arms along the body. Items: rings, beads and bracelet. Kurg. 7. Circumference 13 fathoms. Depth 3 arshins 2 vershok. Dimples near the mound on the S.S. and W. Kostyak in the direction NO-SE; covered with birch bark; arms along the body. Found: hair, rings, the remains of a headdress, the remains of cloth at the feet. Kurg. 8. Circumference 8 fathoms. The backbone is higher than the mainland; direction NO-SE, arms along the body. Among the things: earrings, part of a headdress. Kurg. 9. circumference 17 fathoms; depth 1 1/4 arch. The skeleton is 1/2 arshin higher than the mainland. Hands along the body, face to the side; direction NO-SE. To the left of the feet is a broken pot. Kurg.10. Circumference 19 fathoms. Depth 5 arshins. Backbone on the mainland, direction NO-SE. Lined with birch bark; arms along the body" [Bogdanov A.P. Materials for the anthropology of the Kurgan period in the Moscow province. 1867, p. 134].

The reason why the remains in some burials lay above the mainland was explained by A.P. To Bogdanov, local hired excavators: “The workers who were excavating these mounds explained this exception very plausibly: such dead people, in their opinion, were buried in the winter, when clearing the site was difficult, which was confirmed by the position of the feet to the winter east” [Materials for anthropology of the Kurgan period in the Moscow province. P. 9-10].

During the expedition of the following 1866, another 60 mounds were excavated in the same areas.

Open sheet issued by A.P. Bogdanov to carry out excavations of mounds and ethnographic research in the Moscow, Tver, Vladimir, Ryazan, Tula, Smolensk, Kostroma, Kaluga and Yaroslavl provinces (1866).From here.

The results of the research of 1864-1866 were reflected in the exposition of the Ethnographic Exhibition, opened in the Moscow Manege in 1867 and which was very popular among Muscovites.

From here.

Hundreds of finds made by the expedition in the Moscow province were presented here.


Ethnographic exhibition. Photo of the exhibition. From here.
Download the album of the Ethnographic Exhibition of 1867.

Later, on the basis of this exhibition, the Ethnographic (Dashkovsky) Museum arose, which existed until 1941 (merged with the Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR).


Medal A.P. Bogdanov. OLE at Moscow University (04/05/1867).

In 1872, the next exhibition took place - the Polytechnic, dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Peter I, and housed in 62 pavilions built in the Alexander Garden and along Kremlin wall along the banks of the Moscow River. Soon its organizers turned to the emperor with a petition to open a historical museum in Moscow and transfer the exhibited materials there. Permission was obtained and a government subsidy was allocated.

Token from the Polytechnic Exhibition of 1872

The next step was to organize excavations. To analyze their results A.P. Bogdanov involved: botanist Nikolai Nikolaevich Kaufman (1834-1870), who analyzed the remains of the tree, assistant of the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy P.A. Grigoriev (d. 1891) - for the chemical analysis of metal objects, the analysis of leather and fabrics was undertaken by Professor Modest Yakovlevich Kittary (1825-1880), the mineralogical characteristics of beads and stones were entrusted to Professor Ivan Bogdanovich Auerbach (1815-1867).

Historical department of the Polytechnic Exhibition of 1872. From here.

Anthropological department. Polytechnic exhibition of 1872. From here.

In 1879, an Anthropological Exhibition took place in the arena, in which materials from the Moscow region occupied a prominent place. In addition to items from the excavated mounds, visitors were shown life-size models of these burial structures based on excavations near Setun and the village of Pokrov near Podolsk.

Lithograph depicting the mounds of the village of Pokrova, Podolsk district. Moscow province

The materials of this exhibition formed the basis of the Anthropological Museum in the old building of Moscow University.

Passage to the Anthropological Department of the Anthropological Exhibition in Moscow in 1879. From here.

Ticket of the Chairman of the Committee of the Anthropological Exhibition in Moscow - A.P. Bogdanov (04/03/1879).

Government subsidies for the opening of these three exhibitions of A.P. Bogdanov did not have to attract capital from private patrons. Assistant Trustee of the Moscow Educational District V.A. allocated 10,000 rubles for the ethnographic exhibition. Dashkov, for the Polytechnic - 20,000 rubles were given by the railway magnate P.I. Gubonin. The anthropological exhibition was “unlucky” in this sense. Previously from the merchants F.A. Tereshchenko and L.S. Polyakov was donated 60,000 rubles. This money was soon spent on trips to collect exhibits and their purchase, but the payment for entry tickets did not cover expenses, and a large debt fell directly on A.P. Bogdanov, who paid it from his personal funds until the end of his days. After the Anthropological Exhibition, Bogdanov no longer worked on enterprises of this kind and devoted his organizational talent to the Moscow Zoological Garden, to whose management he returned in the 1880s.

Anatoly Petrovich Bogdanov in his office. From here.

By the end of his life, the tireless researcher and talented organizer became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and received the rank of Privy Councilor. Anatoly Petrovich died in 1896 and was buried in the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent.

According to A.A. Formozova: “The merits of Bogdanov’s works are indisputable, but for archeology their significance turned out to be much less than one might expect. The excavation process, the burials themselves, the objects found in them remained undescribed. Collections from different places were not put in order in time and were not properly inventoried, gradually became mixed up, lost their labels and turned into a pile of uncertified items, it is now impossible to understand where, from which burial mound group and which grave these or those items come from."

When using the material, a link to trojza.blogspot.com is required.

Photographic materials from the site were used in preparing the text. arran.ru and work by A.A. Formozov "Pathfinders of the Moscow Land", M., 1988.

This is the opening of a layer of earth in order to study the monuments of former settlement sites. Unfortunately, this process leads to partial destruction of the cultural soil layer. Unlike laboratory experiments, it is not possible to re-archaeologically excavate a site. In order to open the ground, many states require a special permit. In Russia (and before that in the RSFSR), “open sheets” - the so-called documented consent - are drawn up at the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences. Carrying out this type of work on the territory of the Russian Federation in the absence of the specified document is an administrative offense.

Basis for soil excavation

Land cover tends to increase in mass over time, resulting in the gradual hiding of artifacts. It is for the purpose of their detection that a layer of earth is opened. An increase in soil thickness can occur for several reasons:

Tasks

The main goal pursued by scientists when carrying out archaeological excavations is to study an ancient monument and restore its significance. For a comprehensive, comprehensive study, it is most preferable when it is completely opened to its full depth. At the same time, even the interests of a particular archaeologist are not taken into account. However, as a rule, only partial opening of the monument is carried out due to the high labor intensity of the process. Some archaeological excavations, depending on their complexity, can last for years or even decades. Work can be carried out not only for the purpose of researching historical monuments. In addition to archaeological excavations, there is another type of excavation called “security”. In accordance with the legislation, in the Russian Federation they must be carried out before the construction of buildings and various structures. Because otherwise, it is possible that the ancient monuments at the construction site will be lost forever.

Progress of the study

First of all, the study of a historical object begins with non-destructive methods such as photography, measurement and description. If there is a need to measure the direction and thickness of the cultural layer, sounding is done, trenches or pits are dug. These tools also allow you to search for an object whose location is known only from written sources. However, the use of such methods is of limited application, since they significantly spoil the cultural layer, which is also of historical interest.

Earth opening technology

All stages of research and clearing of historical sites are necessarily accompanied by photographic recording. Conducting archaeological excavations on the territory of the Russian Federation is accompanied by compliance with strict requirements. They are approved in the corresponding “Regulations”. The document focuses on the need to produce high-quality drawings. IN Lately they are increasingly processed electronically using new computer technologies.

Archaeological excavations in Russia

Not long ago, Russian archaeologists published a list of the most important discoveries 2010. The most significant events during this period were the discovery of a treasure in the city of Torzhok and archaeological excavations in Jericho. In addition, the age of Yaroslavl was confirmed. Under the leadership of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, dozens of scientific expeditions are equipped every year. Their research extends throughout the European part of the Russian Federation, in some parts of the Asian region of the country and even abroad, for example in Mesopotamia, Central Asia and the Spitsbergen archipelago. According to the director of the institute, Nikolai Makarov, at one of the press conferences, during 2010 the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted a total of 36 expeditions. Moreover, only half of them were carried out on the territory of Russia, and the rest - abroad. It also became known that approximately 50% of the funding comes from the state budget, revenues of the Russian Academy of Sciences and scientific institutions such as the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and While the rest of the resources, intended for work related to the preservation of archaeological heritage monuments, allocated by investors-developers.

Research of Phanagoria

According to N. Makarov, in 2010 there was also a significant shift in the study of monuments of ancient times. This is especially true of Phanagoria - the largest ancient city, found on the territory of Russia, and the second capital of the Bosporan kingdom. During this time, scientists studied the buildings of the acropolis, and found a large building, the age of which dates back to the middle of the 4th century BC. e. All archaeological excavations in Phanagoria are conducted under the leadership of Doctor of Historical Sciences Vladimir Kuznetsov. It was he who identified the found building as one in which state meetings had previously been held. A notable feature of this building is the hearth, in which a fire was previously kept burning every day. It was believed that as long as its flame shone, the state life of the ancient city would never cease.

Research in Sochi

Another significant event of 2010 was the excavations in the capital of the 2014 Olympics. A group of scientists, headed by Vladimir Sedov, Doctor of Art History and leading researcher at the Institute of Archeology, conducted research near the construction site of the Russian Railways terminal near the village of Veseloye. Here the remains of a Byzantine temple from the 9th-11th centuries were subsequently discovered.

Excavations in the village of Krutik

This is a trade and craft settlement of the 10th century, located in the forests of Belozorye Vologda region. Archaeological excavations in this area is headed by candidate of historical sciences Sergei Zakharov. In 2010, 44 coins minted in the countries of the caliphate and the Middle East were found here. Merchants used them to pay for furs, which were especially valued in the Arab East.

Archaeological excavations. Crimea

The historical veil of this territory is lifted largely due to the events that often occur here. research work. Some expeditions have been going on for many years. Among them: “Kulchuk”, “Chaika”, “Belyaus”, “Kalos-Limen”, “Chembalo” and many others. If you want to go to archaeological excavations, you can join a group of volunteers. However, as a rule, volunteers have to pay for their stay in the country themselves. A huge number of expeditions are carried out in Crimea, but most of them are short-term. In this case, the group size is small. Research is carried out by experienced workers and professional archaeologists.

Russian archaeologists have unearthed many amazing finds that help to better understand the history of the country and humanity. We remember the 7 biggest sensations of Russian archeology.

Princess of Ukok

An amazing discovery by archaeologists in the Altai Mountains, on the Ukok plateau, which thundered not only throughout Russia, but became famous throughout the world. In 1993, Novosibirsk archaeologists found the burial of a woman there, dating back to the 5th-3rd centuries BC. Due to the climate of this place, as well as the depth of the burial, the grave was covered with ice, which means it was preserved from decomposition.
For several days, trying not to damage the burial, archaeologists melted the ice. IN burial chamber six horses were found under saddles and with harness, a larch block with bronze nails. The mummy of a young girl (she was about 25 years old at the time of death) was well preserved. She wore a wig and a silk shirt, a woolen skirt, felt socks and a fur coat. Scientists argue whether she was a noble person or whether she belonged to the middle layer of Pazyryk society.
The indigenous Altai people believe that the floods and earthquakes on their land are connected with the fact that the “princess” was moved to the museum, and demand that she be returned to the Ukok plateau. In the meantime, the amazing exhibit can be seen in the Gorno-Altaisk Museum, where an extension and a sarcophagus were specially created for it, maintaining temperature and humidity conditions.

Birch bark certificates

It took a long time to get to this discovery: it was known from chronicles that in Rus' they wrote on birch bark; archaeologists sometimes found tools with which they wrote, but assumed that they were hairpins or nails. They were looking for birch bark documents near Novgorod, but the Great Patriotic War began, and the search stopped. Only in 1951, at the Nerevsky excavation site, “Birch bark letter No. 1” was finally discovered. To date, more than a thousand birch bark letters and even one birch bark icon have been found. Residents of Novgorod find them when laying communications, and a fragment of “Certificate No. 612” was found by a native of Novgorod, Chelnokov, in his own flower pot when transplanting flowers!
Now letters are known from various places in Russia, as well as Belarus and Ukraine. These are official documents, lists, educational exercises, drawings, personal notes containing a wide variety of vocabulary - from love to obscenity.

Scythian gold

On the vast territory between the Danube and Don there are many mounds. They remained here from the Scythian tribe, and each mound is “gold-bearing”, because only the Scythians put so much gold in the burials of both the nobility and ordinary people. For the Scythians, gold was a symbol of life after death, and therefore it was placed in all mounds and in a variety of forms. Raids on Scythian mounds began in the Middle Ages, but even now archaeologists are finding treasures in them. In one of the mounds they found the burial of a female warrior with weapons and gold beads, in another - a bronze panel depicting the battle of the Greeks with the Amazons, in the third - a diadem made of sheet gold... The collections of the Hermitage and other famous museums are filled with hundreds of kilograms of Scythian gold jewelry.

Unknown type of person

On March 24, 2010, the journal Nature published a sensational article about the “Denisovan man,” whose remains were found in the Denisova Cave, located in the valley of the Anui River in Altai. The bone of the last phalanx of a child's finger, three huge molars belonging to a young man, and a phalanx of a toe were found in the cave. The researchers conducted a DNA analysis and found that the bone remains date back to 40 thousand years ago. Moreover, “Denisovan man” turned out to be an extinct type of person, whose genome is significantly different from ours. The evolutionary divergence of such a person and a Neanderthal occurred about 640 thousand years ago. Later these people became extinct or partially mixed with Homo sapiens. In the cave itself, archaeologists uncovered 22 layers corresponding to different cultural eras. Now any tourist can get into this cave.

White Sea labyrinths

There are labyrinths in all parts of the world among peoples at different stages of development. In Russia, the most famous labyrinths are located at White Sea: There are about forty of them there, more than thirty of them are on the Solovetsky Islands of the Arkhangelsk Region. All northern labyrinths are made of medium-sized stones, have an oval shape in plan, and inside there are intricate passages leading to the center. Until now, no one knows the exact purpose of labyrinths, especially since there is more than one type of them. But most often archaeologists associate them with the cult of the dead and funeral rites. This theory is supported by the fact that on the large Zayatsky Island, under the stone heaps of the labyrinth, archaeologists discovered burnt human bones and stone tools. There is an assumption that the ancient people who lived by the sea believed that the soul of a deceased person was transported across the water to another island, and it should not return back. The labyrinth served this purpose: the soul “wandered” in it and returned back to the kingdom of the dead. Perhaps labyrinths were also used in initiation rites. Unfortunately, the study of labyrinths is difficult, because by excavating the labyrinth, the archaeologist destroys the monument itself.

Found in Siberia by European scientists, the first archaeological find dates back to the 18th century, when travelers D. Messerschmidt and F. Tabbert-Strallenberg found mysterious ancient monuments on the Yenisei: large stone steles with inscriptions in an unknown language with strange images and high mounds surrounded by vertical stone slabs. Having learned about such a find, the learned Abbot Bailly from France, who spent a lot of effort searching mysterious Atlantis, put forward the hypothesis that an entire country of mounds and stone steles was left behind not by the Siberian tribes that had sunk into oblivion, but by the wise Atlanteans, sung by Plato. These and a whole series of other discoveries that are associated with the vast Siberia were the driving force that has haunted archaeological scientists for two centuries now.

Bad start

Despite periodic attempts by scientists to conduct systematic archaeological excavations of ancient Siberian settlements, the first large expedition was sent beyond the Urals only in the mid-20s of the last century. At that time, archaeologists explored the Paleolithic settlement of Buret, which later became famous, between the Angara and Lena rivers. What was unusual and mysterious about this settlement was that almost all the dwellings, which were more than 25–30,000 years old, were built from mammoth bones, rhinoceros skulls and reindeer antlers.

Local residents of the surrounding Buryat villages who, since time immemorial, consider the place, location ancient settlement, sacred, and therefore the appearance of scientists caused discontent. Repeatedly, locals tried to set fire to the archaeologists’ camp and secretly damaged tools and mechanisms. The expedition's leadership even organized security of the archaeological excavation site by local police.

"Black Mark"

Scientists found rich and quite valuable material already in the first days of archaeological excavations. Among other artifacts, a long, flat, well-polished black stone was found, the purpose of which at that time could only be guessed at. And quickly, unpleasant events began to happen in the camp. Thus, one archaeologist accidentally wounded his hand with a bone fragment, and soon he developed gangrene. The second scientist was seriously poisoned and decided to have a snack on the breadcrumbs he had stored right at the excavation site. In the convoy transporting the found artifacts to Irkutsk after the inventory, half of the horses died. And 2 months after the start of excavations, cholera broke out on the expedition. The arriving doctors could not find the cause that caused such a serious disease, the archaeologists, following the instructions, drank only boiled water, did not come into contact with local residents, and no cases of cholera were recorded in the surrounding villages. As a result, the excavations were stopped, and at the end of summer the expedition returned to Moscow.

Later, one of the scientists who participated in those archaeological excavations learned that the polished stone found was a kind of “black mark” - a magical object that served as a talisman. Archaeologists will find similar objects more than once at excavation sites.

Shaman Cape Burkhan

Archaeological excavations, which were carried out in the forties of the 20th century on the Baikal island of Olkhon, on the sacred Cape Burkhan (or Shaman Rock), burials of the Neolithic era, caused a lot of trouble for researchers.

Cape Burkhan has been known to Russian settlers since the mid-18th century as a place where the shamans of Tuva, Buryatia, and Khakassia gathered to worship spirits. The most respected representatives of the pagan cult were buried here since ancient times. The excavations carried out confirmed this - in none of the cultural layers, even at the greatest depths, were household items or other artifacts found that testified to the existence of ancient settlements or even sites on the island. At the same time, archaeologists stumbled upon a large number of religious objects made of bone, stone, bronze and even precious metals.

Don't disturb the spirits!

From the memoirs of one of the expedition members, scientist Igor Bogdanovich Seliverstov from Tomsk, as soon as their group landed on the shore of Olkhon on a warm July day, the weather began to rapidly deteriorate. The sky was overcast with low clouds, and a hurricane wind rose. The waves of the lake rolled one after another onto the cape, trying to wash away boxes and bags with equipment, tents and food. It seemed to the expedition members as if nature itself was angry with uninvited guests. But the real tests were yet to come.

On the first day the new batteries failed. A pair of rowing boats that were moored to the shore developed a leak. And at night, all members of the expedition heard someone walking between the tents, making sounds similar to groans. Since that time, not a day has passed without someone being injured during excavations. Soon, female archaeologists began to claim that someone was strangling them in their dreams. They felt the touch of someone's cold invisible hands on them.

Two weeks after the start of the excavations, one of the scientists almost died due to an unfortunate oversight. The young man found a flint flint with some marks on it and tried to strike a fire with it. As a result, his clothes caught fire, and only the decisive actions of his colleagues, who began to pour water from buckets on him, saved the scientist’s life.

One day, an old Tuvan sailed to the island and demanded a meeting with the leader of the group, during which he warned that if the archaeologists did not leave the spirits of the great ancestors alone, they would be severely punished by the supreme deities...

The archaeological team worked on Olkhon for another seven days and left with mysterious island to Irkutsk, and then to Novosibirsk, taking with them those few but valuable items that scientists managed to discover.

Enchanted Ax

Unfortunately, it often happens that finds found in the ground bring with them many unpleasant surprises. So, in the fall of 1977, on the right bank of the Amur, near the village of Bogorodskoye in the Khabarovsk Territory, archaeologists discovered an ancient human site. During archaeological excavations, scientists recovered from thousands of years of soil deposits a number of unique everyday and cultural objects, and among them a perfectly preserved ax, whose age, presumably, could be about 100 thousand years. At that time, together with archaeologists, they worked on auxiliary jobs local residents. Due to an oversight by the expedition leader, the ax fell into the hands of the five-year-old son of one of the workers. As a result, the boy almost lost his leg. According to him, the ax suddenly flew into the air and fell on his leg just above the thigh.

This is beyond the reach of the human mind

There are cases when museums suffered from valuable archaeological exhibits that seemed to bear the mark of a curse. So, in 1879 a big fire broke out in Irkutsk. The investigation established that the fire occurred in a local museum, after which the fire began to cover all new city blocks. Soon after this, rumors spread throughout the city that the museum was set on fire... objects that were in its storerooms and found seven years earlier. Then, in 1872, during the construction of the Irkutsk military hospital, bones of fossil animals from the Ice Age, stone and bone artifacts, and human remains of the Paleolithic era were discovered in the ground. These finds were sent to the museum. But in the fire of 1879, priceless artifacts were lost...

Sometimes a mysterious fate literally haunts scientists who have made significant archaeological discoveries. Some people write off these facts as mere accidents, while others try to explain them from the point of view of materialistic science. But living witnesses of such events agree that in each specific case there is the influence of some higher forces, inaccessible to the understanding of the human mind.

“Mysteries of History” – Newspaper “Secrets of the 20th Century”