New archaeological season kicks off in Moscow

New archaeological fieldwork season has kicked off in Moscow. This year, specialists will carry out work at more than 200 sites, including the areas of Troitsky and Novomoskovsky Administrative Districts. Some of the sites are on Bersenevskaya Embankment and Sofiyskaya Embankment, Runovsky Pereulok and Romanov Pereulok, Derbenevskaya, Novoryazanskaya, Nikolskaya, Tverskaya, Yauzskaya and Mozhaysky Val streets.

“Over the four months of 2024, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation has already issued 25 permits for archaeological excavations in Moscow. We often say that such work continues all year round; in winter, specialists process and restore finds in workshops and build hothouses on city sites. Since the start of the year, specialists have already found more than 2,000 artifacts following such research. Over the past 13 years, the capital’s archaeologists have discovered over 100,000 objects,” said Alexey Yemelyanov, Head of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage.

For example, a painted ceramic toy made of pink clay dating from the 19 th century was found on Bolshaya Tatarskaya Street. It is inspired by the fairy tale “The Magic Swan Geese” where Alyonushka carries brother Ivanushka on her shoulders, as well as Konstantin Makovsky’s painting “Children Running from a Thunderstorm” created in 1872. The toy depicts a girl clutching a basket of mushrooms and carrying a little boy on her back, who holds on to her with his arms and legs.

Archaeologists have also found a miniature black-glazed toy jug dating from the 17 th century on Tverskaya Street. When glazing, the surface is rubbed to get a mirror shine, and at the very end of firing, resinous pine firewood and raw grass are put in the pottery kiln to create a thick dark smoke. Due to this, vessels get a deep black color. This jug is an exact scaled-down replica of 17 th century pottery.

On Nikolskaya Street, archaeologists have found a black-glazed vessel in the shape of a nightingale. Many centuries ago, whistles in Rus’ were used as children’s toys and ritual items. Experts have also discovered a toy in the form of a clay horse dating from the 16 th century. It is covered with white engobe and features a design of the mane and bridle. Unsurprisingly, the horse was the image for toys. For thousands of years, people could not imagine their life without a horse, so the image of this animal is often found on different items.

Another find featuring a horse is a red tile dating from the 16 th century. It is a relief plate with a box-shaped part. Glazed tile stoves often looked like a book of fairy tales. By considering each element, one can imagine a whole story or tale. The item depicts a warrior-horseman with a saber in his hand. Another painted tile-a town from the time of Peter the Great-was found on Tverskaya Street.

Among the more recent finds of archaeologists is a 19 th-century weight piece measuring weight on Romanov Pereulok. It was put on one side of the scale to measure the required amount of goods.

One of the artifacts found on Romanov Pereulok is a valve element from the Körting Brothers. Moscow, a company dating from the 19 th century with the inscriptions “open” and “closed” in a circle. In Moscow, they produced boilers, heating devices, pipes and bronze taps.

A separate group of finds are beauty and care items, including 17 th-century ear picks found on Nikolskaya Street. It is an old hygiene item that was used to clean the outer ear and cleanse the ear of excess wax. The end of the tip opposite the spoon, in addition to decoration, often had a ring or a slot, most likely for attaching it to some item of clothing.

On Romanov Pereulok, archaeologists have found rings dating from the 18 th century. Severe deformation of the shield and abrasions on the copper women’s ring with geometric patterns indicate a fairly long period of constant wear. It was probably very valuable and important to its owner. The shield of the men’s signet ring features the coat of arms of the beast and a floral pattern.

An imported 19 th century jar with the inscription Laugier Parfumeur Rue Bourg-l’Abbé a Paris is of particular value. Langier Père et Fils was located at 14 rue Bourg-l’Abbe in Paris. Perhaps, this jar contained hair pomade or cream.

Experts have also found other household items such as the bottom of a 17 th-century glass bottle of 1.23 liter made using the Venetian technologies, a hand-painted glazed mug with a large floral pattern, and a 19 th-century mineral water bottle from Arista Mindera, the owner of one of the first pharmacies in Moscow.

Another curious find was a black-glazed ceramic drinking bowl dating from the 17 th century discovered on Nikolskaya Street.

A part of a flail, an old bladed weapon of the 18 th-19 th centuries, was also found on Romanov Pereulok. It consisted of a short wooden handle and a weight of different shapes attached to one end of the handle with a belt, chain or strong rope. There was a loop at the other end that went around the arm. The flail was put behind the belt.

The entire archaeological process is divided into two stages: office work, when the artifact is cleared of soil, and the restoration itself. The work can take from a week to several years, depending on the find and its condition. Now the workshops store the items discovered this year, more than 300 of them have already been conserved and restored. Experts transfer all found artifacts to museums. Over the past five years, the state part of the Museum Fund of Russia has been replenished with more than 37,000 items, and about 3,500 of them will be added in 2023.