Archaeologists received an invaluable gift during construction Crimean bridge. An entire ancient village was discovered on the site on the Kerch side. According to scientists, the settlement dates back to the end of the fifth century BC.

As researchers delve into the mysteries ancient world, builders are adjusting the project. Railroad approach will be moved to preserve the unique estate. This will not affect the delivery deadline in any way.

Literally across the street from modern residential buildings is the outskirts of the ancient world. The estate of the late 5th century BC - the time when the Bosporan kings dominated this territory and worshiped the ancient Greek gods.

The estate was, as it were, separated from the outside world. The windows of all buildings - there were 40 of them - looked out only onto the internal paved courtyards. Judging by the area - about five thousand square meters, aristocrats lived here. This is evidenced by the found fragments of luxurious tiles for that time, and whole scatterings of coins with relief minting. Next to the tables on which grapes were crushed, scientists found Aegean amphorae and well-preserved ceramics - wine cups coated with black varnish, presumably brought from Attica.

“In front of us is a black-glazed saucer, almost whole, the rim is slightly chipped. Imported tableware. At the bottom of this saucer is a scratched name or wish,” says Alexander Bonin, a specialist at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

It was here, on the approach to the Crimean Bridge, that according to the project a new railway was supposed to pass, a section 18 kilometers long. Archaeologists who were conducting research before construction stumbled upon the ancient monument. Now the route will be moved - the rails will bypass the estate. The developers assure that this will not affect the completion date. Trains on the Crimean Bridge will be launched on time - in December next year. And here scientists will continue excavations - they need to get to the lower layer to find out who was the first owner.

“I don’t know any analogies either in Ukraine or in Russia. In the entire Black Sea region, no one has dug anything like this in rural areas. This is the first time we have had an estate of such size, such complexity of layout and such preservation. Without the construction of the railway, we would never have had such opportunities to carry out work on such an area, at such a pace, with so many people,” said Alexander Maslennikov, head of the field research department at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

A great rarity, scientists say, is that the artifacts have been preserved in almost the same condition in which their owners left them. Archaeologists especially note the skill of the architects.

“The estate is located on a slope. Naturally, during the rains there was a powerful drainage system, and the residents of this estate built a rather complex and extensive drainage system. We have not encountered such a system before,” said Sergei Vnukov, leading researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

But various antiquities are found regularly during the construction of the Crimean Bridge - in two years, more than one hundred thousand valuable exhibits have already been transferred to museums.

Rescue archaeological excavations of the ancient mound "Cement Slobodka-1"(mound No. 4) were completed in Kerch on the site of the future Tavrida highway. The excavations were carried out by employees of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the leadership of Ph.D. I.V. Rukavishnikova. Archaeologists have discovered a vaulted crypt of the Bosporan nobility of the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. and several burials of the 2nd century BC. - first centuries AD The crypt was moved to the territory of the Kerch fortress for use as a museum.
Photos are clickable, with geographical coordinates and linking to a Yandex map, 06.2017.

1. Video interview with the head of the excavations, Irina Rukavishnikova, for the Kerch-Net channel. The sound is very bad due to the strong wind, so you need to listen closely

2. View of the Cement Slobodka-1 mound 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 robbed and destroyed, and was also reused

6. The upper part of the crypt was destroyed by fortifications from the time of the Great Patriotic War, and horse bones were also found here. Many mounds were used for military purposes, as observation points and firing points

7. The crypt of the late 4th - early 3rd century BC, belonged to the Bosporan nobility. But like many, it was reused. In the photo, archaeologists have reached the level of the secondary burial; the owner of the crypt still has to dig and dig. Pieces of a South Pontic pseudo-Kos amphora from the second half of the 1st century were found here. BC, fragments of red glaze ceramics, a single-arm lamp, a red clay urn, two faience pendants in the form of a scarab and a demon

8. Human bones and ceramic fragments

9. Far away from the house in Nizhny Solnechny microdistrict

10. View from the mound towards the Crimean Bridge

11. Industrial zone for bridge construction

14. View of the dromos (entrance corridor) and the stones covering the entrance to the crypt

15. Six more burials from different eras were found around the crypt, two of them were cremation burials

16. On the staircase of the dromos a child’s burial from the Roman period of the 1st century AD was found. Next to the remains are a crushed vessel, a glass bottle, bronze bells and beads. Here also lay a pyxis (a round jewelry box) and a funeral urn with ashes

19. View from the crypt along the future highway "Tavrida" towards the excavations of the settlement Bronze Age Gospitalny-2, mounds and settlement Gospitalny-1, about which there will be separate articles

20. After the completion of the excavations, it was decided to move the crypt to the territory of the Kerch fortress and make it a museum. Next in the photo is the crypt in the process of being transferred. Several rows of blocks have already been transported. The crypt markings are clearly visible for subsequent collection in a new location

21. The crypt is completely cleared and the floor slabs are clearly visible. You can compare with photo 18, the crypt is one block lower

22. View of the entrance to the crypt and dromos

30. Marking for assembly. Later, when the crypt had already been transported to the fortress but had not yet been assembled, a funny thing happened with the markings. In Kerch there were heavy rains with hail and the markings began to smudge, so archaeologists had to urgently take measures to protect and restore them

The railway approach to the Crimean Bridge will be redesigned after the ancient settlement of Manitra was discovered at the construction site in the vicinity of Kerch.

Railway will pass south of the planned route, work on the new project may take about 6 months. This was reported by the Crimean Bridge information center.

“To preserve the unique historical monument, the builders of the approach to the Crimean Bridge will adjust the route of the railway line on one of the sections in the vicinity of Kerch. The road will bypass and will not affect the buildings of a rich ancient estate, discovered during archaeological research prior to the construction of the route.

A complex of 40 rooms and 9 courtyards, dating from the end of the 5th - beginning of the 3rd century BC. e., could belong to the family of a Bosporan aristocrat or a representative of the dynasty of kings of Bosporus. The transfer of the approach site will allow scientists to conserve this settlement, study it and preserve it for posterity,” the information center said in a statement.

The construction press service emphasized that the transfer of the route section will not affect the completion date of the 18-km approach: it will start operating as planned in December 2019.

As RBC writes, the railway tracks can be moved 700–900 m to the south, where “archaeologists do not expect new finds.”

“We know and respect history. We understand what region we work in. Therefore, the question of preserving cultural heritage was and remains a priority,” emphasized Leonid Ryzhenkin, Deputy Director for Infrastructure Projects at Stroygazmontazh.

Unique find

The found estate occupies an area of ​​more than 5 thousand square meters. m and is characterized by continuous buildings, characteristic of ancient rural complexes.

Now approximately 80% of the found settlement has been revealed. The upper layers have been discovered almost throughout the entire area, but the lowest horizon has not yet been excavated everywhere.

“To understand who the first owner of this estate was, you need to open the earliest level. But it is obvious that this was a representative of the aristocratic elite of the Bosporan kingdom,” says the head of the expedition, Doctor of Historical Sciences, leading researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Vnukov.

“There are no analogues of a rural estate of such size, complexity and such good preservation not only in the Crimea, but throughout the entire Black Sea region.

The uniqueness of this settlement is very high level construction business. The monument is located on the Kerch Peninsula, in the western part of the Bosporus Kingdom. This is the distant outskirts of the Hellenic world, but here we see the experience of ancient urban planning at its best.

The one who built this estate had not just great, but very great material opportunities. Presumably, this is not even a representative of the social property elite, but rather a member of the ruling royal dynasty or even the king of the Bosporus himself,” Alexander Maslennikov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, head of the field research department of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, agrees with his colleague.

Archaeological excavations and finds captured by Kerch photographers in late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century.

Excavation in the southwest of the ancient settlement of Panticapaeum. Date of survey: 1899 - 1910.

A building complex discovered by excavations by 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.

Kerch antiquities, discovered in 1896 and 1897 as part of an exhibition at the Imperial Archaeological Commission, organized in the spring of 1898. Date of shooting: 1896 - 1899.

Terracottas found in 1896 on Mount Mithridates, during the excavations of Panticapaeum. Date of shooting: 1896 - 1899.


The picture shows four terracottas, two of which are masks of a Satyr, a 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.

Pottery: pyxis, one-handed jug, lekythos and skyphos. Date of survey: 1898 - 1899.


Discovered on February 24, 1898 in tomb 2, IV Section of the Artemis excavation on Mount Mithridates.

Multi-colored plaster found in 1896 on Mount Mithridates. Date taken: 1896 - 1899.

Fragment of a tombstone made of soft limestone, 4th century. BC e.Date of shooting: 1873.

The tombstone of the sons of Dzopir was found in a mound on the north side of Mount Mithridates in 1873. There is an inscription on the plate in 4 lines. In addition, the photograph serves as an inventory card - it contains short description, passport details.

Painted Bosporan crypt with two sarcophagi on low stands made of soft limestone. Date of shooting: 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 Katerless Bridge. In some places on the walls of the crypt there are remains of fresco painting in the form of quadrangles and circles, painted with dark brown and green paints. 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 the Gorgon Medusa with wings on her head and snakes under her chin.

Gravestone in situ. Date taken: 1911.


The moment of discovery of a tombstone 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 built in the 40s of the 19th century. The white marble tombstone, 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: the top one depicts two male figures standing next to each other; and in the lower one - a rider on a horse, with a spear in his right hand.

Tombstone.Date taken: 1911–1915.


Discovered in the central part of Kerch under the pavement of Predtechenskaya Square in 1911. The slab depicts three figures: in the center is the bearded god Sabazius with a mirror (?), a writhing snake rises from the god’s heel, a female figure on the right, Hermes on the left. The photographs show two images of the relief depicting Sabazius - before restoration and after.

Tombstone made of marble from the 4th century. n. e.Date of shooting: 1900–1910s.


Tombstone with 21 line inscription. Almost the entire front side of the tombstone is occupied by an inscription carved along thin lines. Translation of the inscription: “Vow to the Most High, Merciful God. Aurelius Valerius Sogus, son of Olympus, chief of Theodosia, famous to Augustus, awarded honors by Diocletian and Maximian, also called Olympian in the province, traveled a lot, was absent for 16 years and endured many sorrows, according to a vow, 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 tradeswoman P. Krasheninnikova.

Clay cart (children's toy). Date taken: June 6, 1903 - December 31, 1905.


A cart on four wheels made of dark red clay, inside of which there was a set of ram astragalus (21 pieces). The toy was found by Vladislav Vyacheslavovich Shkorpil on June 6, 1903 in a ruined children’s tomb in Glinishche, not far from the local prison and the city slaughterhouse. Probably, the cart and astragalus, as the child’s especially favorite toys, were placed in the coffin by his relatives. The toy is in the collections of the Russian State Hermitage and is exhibited at an exhibition dedicated to the history of Bosporus.

Marble lion in the excavation of the Lion Mound. Date of shooting: 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 northern slope Mount Mithridates. The statue occupies a central place in the modern exhibition on the history of the Bosporan Kingdom in the Russian State Hermitage.

Excavations of the Zelensky mound at Taman Peninsula, held under the leadership of the director of the Kerch Museum Vladislav Shkorpil in 1912. Date of shooting: 1912.

Two pithoi with lids in an excavation pit in 1898. Date of shooting: 1898.


There is a digger on the right.

The territory of modern Kerch has been inhabited by people since ancient times - information about the first settlements here has been lost for centuries. It has been proven that at the top of Mount Mithridates and at its foot in the 7th century BC. a city of Hellenic colonists arose with a defensive wall, stone houses, a port, trades and crafts, and subsequently with a highly developed culture, mansions of the nobility, state and public institutions, a mint, temples and all other attributes of the policies of that era. It is believed that since the emergence of Panticapaeum, life here has never been interrupted, although eras, peoples and civilizations have changed. Kerch is therefore recognized in scientific world the most ancient city in Russia.

However, people lived in the area of ​​the modern city before - it is enough to mention the so-called Cimmerians (the conventional name for the pre-Scythian peoples Northern Black Sea region), traces of whose vital activity have been preserved by the Crimean land. Just remember the well-known anthropomorphic sculptures - “stone women”, dating back to a millennium BC. Therefore, traces of ancient settlements and burials are hidden in the ground everywhere in Kerch.

The Nizhny Solnechny region is no exception, in the vicinity of which a lot of traces of ancient people have been preserved. During the construction of auto approaches from the Tavrida highway to the bridge, some sections of these historical monuments will inevitably be lost, and therefore archaeologists should extract all possible artifacts and document the finds. You can find out more about the configuration of the route and the area where it will take place in our.

In August 2016, the “Crimean Regional Center for Archaeological Research” carried out an examination and identified those places of future construction where it is necessary to conduct preliminary archaeological surveys, identifying 13 cultural heritage sites that need to be bypassed, conservation measures taken, or explored in as much detail as possible before the construction of the road begins.

In this relatively small area on both sides of the Heroes of Stalingrad Highway there are a number of archaeological sites. On the western side there is the “Hospital” settlement, the “Lesnoy I” and “Lesnoy II” mounds, the Tiritaksky rampart with a length of more than 20 kilometers. On the east, near the dacha cooperative “Zaliv”, there is the “Hospital” mound, the “Hospital II” settlement and a group of 4 “Nizhny Solnechny I” mounds with burials of the Bosporo-Scythian and Panticapaean nobility of the 4th-3rd centuries BC, and The “Nizhny Solnechny II” mound turned out to be right on the territory of the household plots. Even closer to the bridge is a group of 8 mounds “Cement Slobodka I”.

Also, near the future highway “Tavrida”, 3 kilometers from the village of Oktyabrskoye, there is a group of 4 mounds, the surface of which is plowed, and a little to the east there is a group of two mounds “Dzharzhdava Western”. In the same area, but to the south of the future road junction, there is the “Balochny Zapadny” mound, and closer to Kerch there is the “Balochny” mound.

The settlement “Hospital” (the name comes from the nearby tuberculosis dispensary) is located on the banks of the Dzharzhava River, which, undoubtedly, was fuller in ancient times, which attracted residents. Its area is estimated at 13,350 square meters. m, of which the territory of permanent land allocation for road construction accounts for 8,890 sq. m. This does not mean that historical monument throughout this entire area will be lost, but access to it will, of course, be terminated. Today, thanks to funding, scientists will be able to conduct the largest excavations in recent decades.

Extensive archaeological research of this area over an area of ​​3 thousand square meters. m was carried out just before the division of the country, in 1989-1991, under the leadership of Kerch specialists Viktor Nikolaevich Zinko and Nikolai Fedorovich Fedoseyev, and a small area was additionally explored in 1993. The discoveries made during the excavations made it possible to date the settlement to the end of the 5th - first quarter of the 3rd century BC. Four rectangular semi-dugouts for residential and utility purposes, equipped with a system of sewage drains and receiving pits, were discovered; the remains of a manor with a courtyard, traces of a fire, garbage pits and household items, including fragments of red-figure pottery, amphora containers, ceramic stamps, Panticapaean coins and sling stones. Residents were engaged in fishing and livestock farming.

The “Hospital” mound is also noteworthy, which is seen every day by thousands of people passing near the tuberculosis dispensary: ​​due to its position near the road, it is clearly visible. With a diameter of 70 meters, the height of the burial reaches 7 m. The total area of ​​the security zone is set at 13.7 thousand square meters. m. The mound of the mound bears traces of digging, but some researchers believe that this burial may still remain unplundered, at least in modern history no one opened it. If these expectations are true and archaeologists decide to excavate the mound, then interesting finds await us. Most of these burial structures have been plundered both in ancient times and in very recent times. However, for now only a study of the 4 thousand square meters adjacent to the mound is planned. m adjacent to the future highway.

Behind the private plots towards the bridge on an area of ​​20.7 thousand square meters. m is located the Bronze Age settlement “Hospital II”, dating back to approximately the 2nd millennium BC. and discovered in 1983. The task of archaeologists today is to study the historical space on an area of ​​8,280 square meters. m. The work is carried out by the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences together with the East Crimean Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve.

During the expedition, which involves over 40 people, ordinary workers and specialists, thousands of fragments of molded Bronze Age ceramics, household items made of stone and bone, and agricultural tools have already been identified. There are also objects from ancient times.

Perhaps, already in the summer, the Kerch Museum will demonstrate the most remarkable of these finds in the framework dedicated to the Crimean Bridge. There are plans to make it permanent and place it on the territory of the Kerch fortress, where many magnificent casemated rooms have been preserved. This will contribute to the preservation and development of the fortress itself as an object of Russian cultural heritage. Moreover, on the territory of the fortress, by the time the bridge is launched, it is planned to build a gigantic monument to “Reconciliation” for the centenary of the beginning of the revolution and civil war, as well as extensive observation deck with the construction of a road, that is, visiting museum exhibitions and the fortress itself will be interesting and convenient.

In general, the scope of archaeological work in Crimea is much wider due to active infrastructure construction. Thus, today, about 50 archaeological heritage sites are planned for study along the route of the future Tavrida highway, and completely new monuments may be discovered during construction: contractors are required to inform scientists about all discovered historical objects, immediately stopping work on these sites.

Last year, when laying a gas pipeline through a ditch near the Cimmerian Wall, a discovery was made in the Northern Black Sea region of excellent preservation with the remains of adjacent defensive fortifications. And the volume of ceramic fragments from the marine sections of the supports of the Crimean Bridge is absolutely stunning - in 2015 alone, 1200 square meters were excavated in the area of ​​Cape Ak-Burun. m of the bottom and more than 20 thousand finds were recovered. Work continued last year, and its scale is increasing. In 2017, marine archaeologists are going to take hundreds of thousands of ancient debris from Poseidon along the bridge construction route. The most remarkable examples of ancient culture found recently are the Kerch Museum.