In the article Listed temples. Erasure of heritage or antediluvian strata? I said that archaeologists do not see their excavations globally, and in particular do not see - how did these finds end up under meter thick layers of clay and soil?
No, archaeologists say that these are cultural layers, but there is not a single find in the clay: there are no remnants of wooden structures, no household utensils, ornaments, etc. All this is found in layers of almost petrified humus, soil, which is located under the clay. Photos from the excavation below are proof of this.
At the site of excavations in 2012-2013, there is already a swimming pool under construction, and archaeologists are working on a trench for a water pipeline, which is being laid to the building.
sibved: I will highlight my explanations.
The excavation is long (about 50 m) and narrow (2, -1.5 m wide).
Promotional video:
It is clearly seen that the cultural layer, which is of interest to archaeologists, is under layers of 1.5-2 meters of clay.
The most difficult thing in such trenches is drainage. Drainage ditches should be very narrow around the perimeter. After laying them, the layer began to dry and it became possible to work quietly in the trench.
Despite its small size, a lot of interesting things got into the excavation.
There is a cluster of calcined stones here:
At first they thought that these were the remains of a hearth, but it turned out that they were simply buried in a pit.
There are also wooden structures:
The wooden structure did not rot, did not petrify, which speaks of the recent past of that disaster (possibly local) that buried the layer of black earth on which this fence stood.
And this is a section of the stockade:
As you can see, the palisade is broken. If it rotted, then the part that was originally in the ground would rot first. And so - we see the picture "vice versa".
The finds, as always, are quite varied.
We hope very much to enlarge our collection of hanging lead seals. But they haven't found any new ones yet.
In the meantime, I can show you.
Amber pectoral cross:
Several lead weights. Here is one of them:
The fact that at least some of these weights were made right here is evidenced by this piece of the casting mold:
And this is another pectoral cross made of non-ferrous metal:
A whole series of similar crosses were found at the Kurortny excavation site last year (you can see them here).
As always, there are many other finds - fragments of zrens (baking trays for salt evaporation), staples and fragments of ceramic pots.
There are also many bones of domestic animals. among which is the skull of a medieval dog:
This is the beginning of the season.
Here are some more finds (more details):
I showed most of the interesting finds. But there are still some finds of this season, made of non-ferrous metal, the photos of which I have not yet posted. Here they are.
I'll start with the items from the upper layers.
Coin in denomination of 2 kopecks, minted in the period from 1810 to 1829:
She was found right on the surface.
Perhaps A. Kungurov is right: the cataclysm occurred at the beginning of the 19th century, exactly during the Patriotic War of 1812. But Alexey is talking about a nuclear strike on our territory. And here, it turns out, everything is flooded with mud-mud deluge.
Here is a copper alloy item:
Something like a frame with an embossed pattern. Obviously refers to the 19th - early 20th centuries.
Several spherical lead bullets were also found. Here is one of them:
In general, during the excavations at the Resort, a fairly large collection of 19th century bullets was collected. (they can be viewed in the database).
And this is a scrap of lead ingot, possibly the raw material for such bullets.
Scraps of ingots and lead splashes were also found in medieval layers (but that lead was the raw material for casting lead weights).
By the way, here is one such weight, of a rather original shape:
Here's another piece of an undefined lead product:
Here's another piece:
At first we even thought it was a fragment of a filling. But it looks like it's not her after all.
Buttons:
Pool coins were also found. Here are two of them:
Not very clearly readable, but, apparently, these coins belong to the XVI-XVII centuries.
Fragment of the ring:
And this is one of the most interesting finds:
Fragment of a pectoral icon. On this half, a saint with a halo is clearly visible. This is not the first time such items have been encountered. They were found both at the Resort and at other excavations (see here).