Excavations have been going on since the end of October.
Large-scale archaeological excavations have been going on in the center of Sevastopol since the end of October. The expedition of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences explores the territory of the Historical Boulevard, where fierce battles took place during the Crimean War. Russians, British, French shed their blood here - and they all left something for the scientists to remember.
- Found an English medallion made of an alloy of gold and silver with a sentimental inscription "Only you". Unfortunately, only half survived without a portrait,”Sergei Solovyov, a researcher at the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Komsomolskaya Pravda - Crimea. - Pieces of a burnt overcoat were found in one of the dugouts. There is also an empty wine bottle.
About 130 researchers work on site. Among them are scientists from St. Petersburg, as well as volunteers from Sevastopol, Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region.
During the Crimean War, on the site of the modern boulevard - one of the favorite resting places of Sevastopol residents - the so-called 4th bastion was located, which was part of the semi-ring of land fortifications on the southern side of Sevastopol.
The expedition staff work in any weather. Photo: press service of the Institute for History and Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Autumn and winter, of course, are not the best time to dig in the ground: in Sevastopol it is snowing, raining and just cold. usually the archaeological season ends by this time. Indeed, according to the employees of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it was planned to start work in the summer, but due to paperwork, research began on October 31.
Despite not very favorable weather conditions, the expedition is working hard, and has already yielded quite impressive results. Discoveries are made almost every day.
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They found a heating stove in the dugout. Photo: press service of the Institute for History and Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- In the Historical Boulevard, fortifications have been preserved since the Crimean War. We managed to open 80 percent of the upper part of the rampart of the bastion - valganga, - said Sergei Soloviev. - Almost all gun yards and dugouts have been freed from the ground. Moreover, in one of the dugouts, where the gun attendants lived, the stove for heating was relatively well preserved.
We managed to find almost all the entrances of the mine gallery: underground passages where explosions were made to destroy the enemy.
Fierce battles were fought here 150 years ago.
Scientists have studied in detail the territory of the 4th bastion in two and a half months.
“Now we know practically to a centimeter how the guns were located on the battery,” the scientist says, not without pride.
The foundation of the stone pavilion "Gribok", built in 1840 and destroyed during the Great Patriotic War, was completely freed from the layer of earth. Archaeologists managed to determine its location.
Flame-shaped metal overlay for grenadiers' headgear. Photo: press service of the Institute for History and Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
About eight thousand artifacts were found: French and British bombs, bullets, various parts of weapons and uniforms.
Medallion with the inscription "Only you". Photo: press service of the Institute for History and Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- The Crimean War lasted 349 days, about 5000 people fought - some of them even lost something, - Sergey Soloviev explained.
Body-worn silver icon. Photo: press service of the Institute for History and Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The list of the Sevastopol finds: bullets, cannonballs, buckshot, an unexploded mortar bomb with two ears, glass grenades, icons, crosses, various coins.
Among the found ammunition are glass grenades. Photo: press service of the Institute for History and Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- Glass grenades are rare. It is known that during the defense of Sevastopol there were only 1200 of them in service, the scientist emphasized. - These ammunition, which gives off small fragments when bursting, inflicted serious and difficult-to-heal wounds, can be compared with a Molotov cocktail.
Button from a military uniform. Photo: press service of the Institute for History and Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
A whole collection of buttons has been collected from the uniforms of soldiers assigned to the infantry regiments - Yekaterinburg, Azov, Yakutsk, Brest, Ryazan, Dnieper, Tobolsk, as well as the Sapper Battalion, 6th Infantry Battalion, Corps of Naval Engineers and the Fleet crew.
The institute emphasizes that now the history of this section of the Historical Boulevard is clearly outlined:
- And the latest redevelopment of 1965-68, and the trenches of the Great Patriotic War, and the boulevard paths of 1905, when the first improvement of the boulevard was carried out on the 50th anniversary of the Crimean War. Residential and household buildings that existed on this territory even before the Crimean War have been discovered, but it is not yet clear whose they are.
The expedition will complete excavations at the end of February. Scientists plan on the basis of research materials to create a three-dimensional model of the bastion, which will become the basis for organizing the museum exposition. The artifacts will be transferred to the museums of Sevastopol.
GALINA KOVALENKO