Several years ago, a South Ural ethnographer published information that he had found several unusual, apparently ancient wells in the vicinity of Chelyabinsk. The research community was divided: some considered the discovered objects to be part of the land reclamation system and dated back to the 18th-19th centuries, while others linked the find to ancient ritual complexes. We decided to study all possible options for the origin of these objects, moreover, we managed to find one of the wells in quite good condition.
So, for a start, it would be nice to understand what this is all about. For the first time, the media reported about the unusual objects discovered in the vicinity of the village of Kremenkul in early 2012. At the same time, a version of the ancient origin of the found objects was born. The fact is that the unusual, as it might seem at first glance, the shape of the structures reminded of a historical artifact very common in Europe - ritual mines.
Scheme of ritual wells.
The hypothesis that the wells in the suburbs of Chelyabinsk are dated to the late Stone Age, was expressed by the Chelyabinsk researcher Alexander Shestakov, who previously surprised the archaeological world with his discovery - the Zyuratkul geoglyph “Los”. The question of the approximate dating of the age of the objects sought was resolved on the basis of the drawn analogy of the external similarity of the finds in Europe and in the South Urals.
There is no doubt about the ritual purpose of European historical monuments. According to the results of archaeological excavations in the mines, many historical artifacts were discovered, some of which could be used for some time in the Celtic afterlife cult. Simply put, ritual wells were a kind of analogue of burial chambers. This is the case with European "wells", as for the objects found in the vicinity of Chelyabinsk, a big question arises about the connection between the finds and ancient history.
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First, for local residents, at a time comparable to the construction of ritual wells in Europe, similar religious objects were unfamiliar. There are no such finds among the huge variety of historical and cult heritage. Secondly, there is no confirmation of archaeological expertise regarding the presence of antiquities in the local cultural layer. Of course, such a technology for building wells could not be used in our time, so in any case, these objects are historical artifacts. The only question is how old the wells are: two hundred or two thousand.
The fact is that, according to historical notes, Cossack settlements were located on the territory where wells are now found. The main trade of the Cossacks was agriculture, or rather the cultivation of fields and the cultivation of flax. The entire harvested crop was handed over to the state, which brought a very good profit. As you know, when carrying out field work using horse-drawn transport, water is an extremely important resource. Most likely, in the opinion of local historians, these wells refer exactly to the period of the development of these territories by local Cossack agrarians. The landowners had enough money - grain and flax were sold for gold. Why not make such wells? They didn’t dig themselves - they hired workers. After the revolution, the way of life of the Cossack farms changed dramatically and the developed territories fell into desolation, and later turned out to be completely abandoned. The wells were filled up with earth without proper maintenance, some of them collapsed. However, water can still be found in some of the objects. According to existing information, near the wells, coins of the Tsarist era and metal items made in the old technique were often found.
In order to understand this issue thoroughly, our team carried out not only field, but also bibliographic research.
We carried out our research at the site of one of the wells. In total, about 10 similar objects were found on the territory adjacent to the city of Chelyabinsk. Some of which, including the desired one, were filled up and practically did not suffer from people. Usually, a lot of modern garbage gets into such wells in forests, but given that this well was closed for a long time, every item found in it could become a historical artifact. A metal detector was used as the main tool in the research process. However, nothing but melt water, the sortie took place in the spring, it was not possible to find inside the object. Also, no ancient and even more ancient artifacts were found near the object.
Having examined the inner space of the well, it became obvious that the technology for making masonry has nothing to do with megalithic structures, and refers to a more modern era than dense antiquity. Most likely, the well was dug by the Cossacks to provide water for living in the settlement.
However, these objects may seem interesting to treasure hunters for the only reason that during dispossession and “decossackization” wealthy peasants could hide something valuable inside the wells. It is not known for sure whether there is a map of the outskirts of Chelyabinsk with Cossack settlements marked on it, but if it was possible to get it, then for sure it would be possible to find many such wells.
Author: LYUBUSHKIN Andrey
