Archaeological excavations and finds captured by Kerch photographers in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
Excavation site in the south-west of the Panticapaeum settlement, survey date: 1899 - 1910.
A construction complex discovered by excavations of the director of the Kerch Museum Karl Evgenievich Dumberg in 1899. The photo shows three open rooms and a door - the remains of the building's basement floor.
Kerch antiquities, discovered in 1896 and 1897 in the exposition of the exhibition at the Imperial Archaeological Commission, organized in the spring of 1898. Date of shooting: 1896 - 1899.
Terracotta found in 1896 on Mount Mithridates during the excavations of Panticapaeum Date of photography: 1896 - 1899. 
The picture shows four terracottas, two of which represent the masks of Satyr, the protome of Demeter and a figurine of a seated girl with a goose and a bunch of grapes. The terracottas were sent to St. Petersburg.
Earthenware: pixida, one-handed jug, lecythian and scyphos. Date taken: 1898 - 1899. 
Discovered on February 24, 1898 in Tomb 2, Section IV of the Artemis Excavation on Mount Mithridates.
Colored plaster found in 1896 on Mithridates Mountain, date of photography: 1896 - 1899. 
Fragment of a tombstone made of soft limestone, 4th century. BC Date taken: 1873. 
The gravestone of the sons of Dzopir was found in a mound on the northern side of Mount Mithridates in 1873. There is a 4-line inscription on the slab. In addition, the snapshot serves as an inventory card - it contains short description, passport data.
Painted Bosporan crypt with two sarcophagi on low supports of soft limestone Date of photography: October 2, 1902 - December 31, 1905. 
The crypt was opened by Vladislav Vyacheslavovich Shkorpil on October 2, 1902, behind the railway, to the left of the Katerlessky bridge. On the walls of the crypt, here and there, remains of fresco painting in the form of quadrangles and circles, painted with dark brown and green paints, have been preserved. The entrance to the crypt was closed from the inside with a limestone slab. The slab was covered with white plaster, in the middle there was an image of the head of Medusa the Gorgon with wings on her head and snakes under her chin.
Headstone in situ. Date taken: 1911. 
The moment the gravestone was discovered in the wall of a high stone "booth" on Predtechenskaya Square and at the Fish Market, 1911. The slab was inserted into the wall of a building under construction in the 1840s. The tombstone of white marble, broken into two parts, was 4.2 meters high. At the top, it was decorated with two relief acroteria and a pediment. In the triangle there is a bust of a figure with raised arms, under the pediment there are two reliefs: in the upper one there are two male figures standing next to each other; and in the lower one - a rider on horseback, with a spear in his right hand.
Headstone. Date of photography: 1911-1915. 
Discovered in the central part of Kerch under the pavement of Predtechenskaya square in 1911. There are three figures on the slab: in the center is the bearded god Sabazy with a mirror (?), A wriggling snake rises from the heel of the god, a female figure on the right, Hermes on the left. The photographs show two images of the relief depicting Sabaziy - before and after restoration.
Tombstone from marble IV century. n. Date of shooting: 1900-1910th. 
Headstone with an inscription in 21 lines. Almost the entire front side of the tombstone is occupied by an inscription carved along thin lines. Translation of the inscription: “To God Almighty, merciful, vow. Aurelius Valerius Sog, the son of Olympus, the chief of Feodosia, the famous Augustus, honored by Diocletian and Maximian, also called Olympian in the provinces, traveled a lot, absent for 16 years and stayed in many sorrows, according to a vow he built a prayer house from the foundation in 603. " For more than forty years the slab served as the threshold of a house in the courtyard of the Kerch bourgeois woman P. Krasheninnikova.
Clay cart (children's toy) Date of photography: June 6, 1903 - December 31, 1905. 
A carriage on four wheels made of dark red clay, inside which there was a set of sheep astragals (21 copies). The toy was found by Vladislav Vyacheslavovich Shkorpil on June 6, 1903 in a devastated children's tomb on Glinishche, not far from the local prison and the city slaughterhouse. Probably, the carriage and astragalus, as especially favorite toys of the child, were put in the coffin by his relatives. The toy is kept in the funds of the Russian State Hermitage Museum and is exhibited at an exhibition dedicated to the history of the Bosporus.
The marble lion at the Lion Barrow excavation date: 1894 - 1900. 
The excavation was opened in 1894 by the director of the Kerch Museum, Karl Evgenievich Dumberg, in the garden of Lieutenant Colonel Voloshkevich. The garden is located at the bottom of the northern slope of Mount Mithridates. The statue occupies a central place in the contemporary exhibition on the history of the Bosporus kingdom at the Russian State Hermitage Museum.
Excavations of Zelensky Kurgan on the Taman Peninsula, led by the director of the Kerch Museum Vladislav Shkorpil in 1912 Date of photography: 1912. 
Two pithos with lids in an excavation pit in 1898 Date of photography: 1898. 
The digger is on the right.
Photos are clickable, s geographic coordinates and linking to the Yandex map, 06.2017.
1. Video interview with the head of the excavation Irina Rukavishnikova for the Kerch-net channel. The sound is very bad due to strong wind, so you need to listen
2. View of the mound "Cement Slobodka-1" from the south. A crypt between gazelles and a bulldozer. It can be seen that the Tavrida highway passes right through the mound, the photographer is standing on the future road
4. And here is the actual upper part of the crypt 
5. The vaulted crypt was repeatedly plundered and destroyed, moreover, it was reused 
6. The upper part of the crypt was destroyed by the fortifications of the Great Patriotic War, and the bones of horses were also found here. Many mounds were used for military purposes as observation points and firing points 
7. The crypt of the late IV - early III centuries BC, belonged to the Bosporan nobility. But like many, it was reused. In the photo, archaeologists have reached the level of a secondary burial, to dig and dig before the owner of the crypt. Pieces of a South Pontic pseudo-Kos amphora from the second half of the 1st century BC were found here. BC, fragments of red-lacquered ceramics, one-arm lamp, red clay urn, two faience pendants in the form of a scarab and a demon 
8. Human bones and pottery shards 
9. Away from home microdistrict Nizhny Solnechny 
10. View from the mound towards the Crimean bridge 
11. Industrial area for bridge construction 
14. View of the dromos (entrance corridor) and overlapping stones of the entrance to the crypt 
15. Around the crypt, six more burials of different eras were found, of which two were cremation burials 
16. On the stairs of the dromos, a children's burial from the Roman period of the 1st century AD was found. Next to the remains is a crushed vessel, a glass bottle, bronze bells and beads. There was also a pixida (a round jewelry box) and a burial urn with ashes. 
19. View from the crypt along the future highway "Tavrida" towards the excavations of the Bronze Age settlement Hospital-2, the burial mound and the settlement of Hospital-1, about which there will be separate articles 
20. After the end of the excavations, it was decided to move the crypt to the territory of the Kerch fortress and to museumize it. Further on the photo is a crypt in the process of transfer. Several rows of blocks have already been transported. The marking of the crypt is clearly visible for subsequent collection at a new place 
21. The crypt is completely cleaned and the floor slabs are clearly visible. You can compare with photo 18, the crypt is one block below. 
22. View of the entrance to the crypt and dromos 
30. Drawing of markings for assembly. Later, when the crypt had already been transported to the fortress but had not yet been assembled, an amusing incident occurred with the marking. Heavy rains with hail fell in Kerch and the markings began to smear, archaeologists had to urgently take measures to protect and restore it 
The more construction projects, the more finds. In recent years, major infrastructure projects have been implemented in Crimea - new roads are being built, power plants are being built, airports are being reconstructed. Archaeological excavations, which are carried out before the start of construction, radically change the idea of scientists about the history of the peninsula. found out what the researchers found in 2017.
Legacy of the Golden Horde
Most of the finds were made by the scientists in preparation for the construction of the Tavrida highway. The highway will connect the Crimean bridge, Kerch, Simferopol and Sevastopol - that is, it will become the main transport artery of the peninsula. In the meantime, archaeologists are seizing the moment and studying what the earth has hidden for centuries. However, even experienced specialists were shocked in the Bakhchisarai region. Here at the beginning of December, the expedition staff found a burial, in which there were at least 70 decapitated human skeletons. Previously, they date back to the X-XIII centuries and refer to the times of the Golden Horde, when the peninsula survived the invasion of the Mongol Tatars.
“An unexpected find was made during excavations on the mound. Found two ditches, which are literally clogged with bones. Remains of more than 70 people, all without skulls, with traces of cuts. The corpses were chaotically dumped. These are victims of mass executions, ”explained the head of the Crimean new-building archaeological expedition, a leading researcher in the Department of Classical Archeology of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Scientists have not found the skulls of the victims. Archaeologists suggest that the heads of the captives were impaled on stakes and put on public display or stacked in pyramids, as was customary among some peoples. “XII-XIV century - times were harsh, but this is just an assumption,” said Vnukov. It will be possible to date the burial more precisely after analyzing two arrowheads found in the ditches.
Frame: Kryminform / YouTube
Another loud - and not so terrifying - opening took place in the center of Simferopol in November. On Vorovskogo street, a group of archaeologists are the remains of ancient engineering communications. Scientists are sure that these are traces of the medieval palace complex of Kalga-Sultan - the second person in the Crimean Khanate.
Scientists found, in particular, coins, fragments of pottery and glass from the period of the Crimean Khanate. The head of the excavation, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology of Crimea Emil Seidaliev explained that it was possible to find the palace thanks to historical sources: “The place was determined a long time ago and we know from various historical sources. For example, the writing of Peter Simon Pallas. Initially, several pits are planned, which can localize the cultural layer. " Scientists said that at one site a ceramic water pipe was preserved, which probably dates back to the period of the palace's existence and could lead to a fountain or a kitchen.
According to the director of the Institute of Archeology of Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vadim Maiko, the difficulty lies in the fact that there is no information about the external appearance of the structure: “Neither engravings nor other images of this palace have come down to us, although scientists managed to localize its location at the beginning of the XX century” ... The deputy from Crimea promised that this object will be included in the register of monuments cultural heritage.
The oldest Russian bridge
In October, scientists from the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences are the oldest engineering structure in Crimea. It turned out to be a small stone bridge, which was found in the Belogorsk region, near the village of Nekrasovo (formerly Melek). An arched single-span bridge was built across the Ashil stream (left tributary of the Bulganak River), which flowed in this place, but by the end of the 19th century it completely dried up. The constructions are made of cut natural stone. The length of the structure is about 30 meters, the width is about 8 meters, the width of the arch is no more than 2 meters. On the sides of the bridge there was a parapet (a fence made of large hewn stone blocks), which later collapsed.
Macedonian crypt
In the vicinity of Kerch in April of this year, archaeologists have an ancient Greek crypt, built during the time of Alexander the Great. “This mound was erected in the second half of the 4th century BC, when the Bosporus kingdom flourished on the Kerch Peninsula, because the Northern Black Sea region was the main granary of the entire Greek world,” explained Irina Rukavishnikova, head of the excavation, a researcher at the Department of Scythian-Sarmatian archeology of the Institute of Archeology.
She added that the discovered burial reaches ten meters in length. “Most likely, a noble person was buried here. In ancient times, the crypt was covered with a burial mound, into which, in turn, six more burials from different eras were admitted, ”said Rukavishnikova. It is reported that a baby burial dating back to the 1st century AD was found on the steps leading to the entrance to the crypt chamber (dromos). With the buried, a crushed figured vessel, a glass bottle, bronze bells and paste beads, fragments of a bone box - pixids were found. An urn with the ashes of a cremated person was found next to this burial.
Bronze and iron nails, fragments of black-glazed ceremonial dishes were found directly in the crypt. In the filling layer of the crypt, which belongs to the stage of reuse-sub-burial, there are fragments of a South Pontic pseudo-Kosian amphora dating back to the second half of the 1st century BC, fragments of red-lacquered dishes, a single-horned lamp, a red clay urn, two faience pendants in the form of a scarab and a demon.
Kubrick and the steamer
However, not only monuments of distant antiquity have been discovered. In November, at the Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol, the road builders accidentally found a cabin of the personnel of battery number 111 under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Alexei Matyukhin, who defended the slopes of the Sevastopol Bay during the Great Patriotic War. In the vicinity were found four cabins, two large cellars, as well as three positions of anti-aircraft DShK (heavy machine gun) and two 45-mm cannons in pillboxes. Rescuers promised to participate in excavations at the fortification in order to ensure safety.
In April, off the coast of Crimea, the steamer Boy Federsen (formerly "Kharkov") sank during the Great Patriotic War, which, presumably, exported valuables from the peninsula occupied by the German army. The vessel was found by the Russian underwater research expedition between Sevastopol and Cape Tarkhankut. In August 1943, Boy Federsen followed in a convoy from the Crimea, was attacked by Soviet naval aviation, damaged by torpedoes and aerial bombs, and sank.
In just a year, 80 archaeological discoveries were made in the vicinity of the future Tavrida route. Experts say that Crimea is the golden age of archaeological research. “This is due to large projects that are currently being implemented. Sometime something similar happened during the construction of the North Crimean Canal (in 1961-1971), although now the scale is larger, associated with huge infrastructure projects, ”emphasizes Vyacheslav Zarubin, Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Government's State Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. According to him, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation issued 124 permits (open sheets) for archaeological excavations on the peninsula. “This is a lot. Until 2014, there were 20 to 40 open sheets. There are a lot of discoveries, museum funds are actively replenished. The finds are stored in Crimea, replenishing our Crimean collections, no one is taking them anywhere, ”the representative of the Crimean government assured. Probably, in the near future, new high-profile discoveries will occur, but already now we can say that Crimea has become the archaeological capital of Russia.
In the village of Podmayachnoye in the area of Golubina Bay, excavations of the ancient settlement of Gleyki-2 continue. This expedition was already carried out last year. The expedition is led by Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of Primitive Traditional Society of the Institute of Archeology of Crimea, Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Evgenievich KISLOGO. Gleyki-2 is one of the oldest settlements in Crimea. During the excavations, many artifacts were discovered there. So, for example, back in 2016, a burial of a young warrior with a large grater on his shoulder was discovered in the settlement, and last year an archaeologist managed to find elements of three boats of different models. Read: “The uniqueness of this settlement is that we in Crimea do not know such a different culture. Here is a set of artifacts that make up the cultural fund. These are ceramics, products and from such a material cultural layer, we do not know. Nowhere else, in any settlement, we do not know such ceramics with such a culture, with such a form in Crimea, ”Alexander Evgenievich said in an interview. This year, the expedition is trying to find even more structures that may have remained from ancient times.
Archaeological expedition near Kerch delights researchers with new finds
Archaeologists received an invaluable gift during the construction of the Crimean bridge. On the site from the side of Kerch, a whole ancient village was discovered. According to scientists, the settlement dates back to the end of the 5th century BC.
While explorers delve into the mysteries the ancient world, builders adjust the project. The railway approach will be relocated to preserve the unique estate. This will not affect the deadline for delivery.
Literally across the street from modern residential buildings - the outskirts of the ancient world. The estate of the end of the 5th century BC - the time when the Bosporan kings ruled on this territory and worshiped the ancient Greek gods.
The estate was, as it were, separated from the outside world. The windows of all the buildings - there were 40 of them - overlooked only the inner cobbled courtyards. Judging by the area - about five thousand square meters, aristocrats lived here. This is evidenced by the found fragments of the tiles, luxurious for that time, and whole placers of coins with relief minting. Near the tables on which grapes were pressed, scientists found Aegean amphorae and well-preserved pottery - black lacquered wine goblets, presumably brought from Attica.
“Before us is a black-gloss saucer, almost intact, the rim is slightly chipped off. Imported tableware. At the bottom of this saucer there is a name or a wish that has been scratched, ”says Alexander Bonin, a specialist at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
It was here, on the way to the Crimean bridge, that a new railway was supposed to pass according to the project, a section of 18 kilometers long. The ancient monument was stumbled upon by archaeologists who were conducting research before construction. Now the track will be moved - the rails will go around the estate. The developers assure the deadline that this will not affect. Trains on the Crimean Bridge will be launched on time - in December next year. And here scientists will continue excavations - you need to get to the lower layer in order to find out who was the first owner.
“I don't know any analogies either in Ukraine or in Russia. On the territory of the entire Black Sea region, no one has dug anything like this in the rural area. This is the first time this farmstead has such an area, such complexity of planning and such preservation. Don't be construction railroad, we would never have received such opportunities to work on such an area, at such a pace, with so many people, ”said Alexander Maslennikov, head of the field research department of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
It is very rare, scientists say, - the artifacts have been preserved in almost the same condition in which they were left by their owners. Archaeologists especially note the skill of the architects.
“The homestead is located on a slope. Naturally, during the rains, there was a powerful drain here, and the inhabitants of this estate built a rather complex and branched drainage system. We haven’t come across such a system yet, ”said Sergei Vnukov, a leading researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
But various antiquities during the construction of the Crimean Bridge are found regularly - in two years, more than one hundred thousand valuable exhibits have already been transferred to museums.
