Archaeological monuments of Russia and the world. Types of archaeological sites

Archaeological monuments are immovable silent witnesses of past eras. They reflect the activities of a person who lived in those times when a particular historical object was built. Scientists divide all monuments into groups, depending on the purpose for which the construction was intended.

Types of archaeological sites

At once it is necessary to make a reservation - the classification is conditional. In different sources of classification are made for different reasons and can differ significantly from each other.

• Burial monuments include burial mounds, soil burial grounds, necropolises, cenotaphs, memorial complexes and many other structures. The listed archaeological sites have many varieties. Studying them, scientists manage to restore the traditions of peoples, their beliefs. It should be noted that the burial mounds, which are the burial place of people, are the most widespread archeological monuments on the territory of Russia, especially in its steppe and forest-steppe regions.
• Settlement monuments, such as fortifications, parking lots, caves, workshops, mines, roads, water supply systems reflect everyday life of a person and provide valuable information about the way of life of people of a certain era. Descriptions of people's dwellings, obtained from excavations, are sometimes very different from each other. Arrangement of places where a person lived, depended on the duration of his stay in the given place, the main activity, membership of a certain class and many other factors.
• Religious monuments give an idea of the rituals performed in temples, sanctuaries and other places revered by man. This kind of monuments can include stone sculptures that exist in all corners of the planet. Sometimes they were an integral part of the memorial complexes, but in some cases performed an independent role in the performance of certain rituals.
• Monuments of primitive art are rock paintings, graphics, sculpture. These kinds of archaeological monuments are found on all continents of the planet. They differ only in content, mode of implementation. And this depended on the era of creating drawings, the place of residence of a person, his spiritual culture. A distinctive feature of the monuments of this kind is that they are on the surface of the earth, and special works related to their discovery, do not need to be carried out.
• Cave monuments are of great historical value. This is due to the fact that a person for quite a long time used caves as a home or shelter from dangers. Then religious rituals began to take place in them. Monuments found in caves carry rich information about a person's life in the deep past.
• To a special group of monuments can be attributed to random finds, wrecks, cities, treasures and other objects. They can also restore the historical past of people.

Traces of human activity, which lived dozens, hundreds and thousands of years ago, objectively exist, it is an indisputable fact. Some of these archaeological sites are well known to scientists, the general public, they are used by a modern person with specific goals. Humanity has yet to learn about other artifacts. In this regard, the types of archaeological sites are divided into known and unknown. The first kind of monuments is studied, protected by the law of the state where it is located, and thus to some extent protected from destruction. The second kind of monuments that certainly exist, humanity does not yet know anything, while they are hidden from us.

The Epoch of the Primitive Man

Archaeological monuments of primitive epoch indicate that human life mainly depended on the climatic conditions in which he lived. For example, about 35-40 millennia ago a significant part of the territory of the modern European part of Russia was in the zone of the glacier's approach.

The main type of human activity during this period was hunting, since in the glacial zone and to the south it was a huge number of animals. They gave not only clothes and food, but also shelter. Historians have found the remains of dwellings, where the pillars of the pillars, the foundations of buildings, their frames are made of the bones of large animals. Mammoths, deer, cave lions, woolly rhinoceroses and many other kinds of animals were an object of hunting for an ancient man.

When building a dwelling, it was necessary to secure the bones securely among themselves, for this purpose it was necessary to make holes and grooves in them. Covered such structures with warm skins of animals. Most of the dwellings were round in shape, with a conical roof.

Also found burials of people - the most valuable archaeological monuments of the primitive epoch. Finds indicate that the stone and bones of animals were the basic materials from which tools, weapons and ornaments of an ancient man were made. With the change in climatic conditions, the animal and plant world changed, as well as human activities. Their main habitats were river floodplains, coastal water bodies. It is here that scientists constantly find archaeological sites that help to study the way of life of primitive man.

But to get a complete picture of the evolution of man, scientists have to study a large amount of historical material. With the competent management of excavations, historians very often find archaeological monuments belonging to different epochs of the development of human life on the job site. It is these findings for scientists that are the most valuable.

Stone Age

Archaeological monuments of the Stone Age make it possible to conclude that by the end of this period man already occupied large areas, and his habitats were located in different parts of the earth. The settlement of people is connected with the warming of the climate, the retreat of the glacier. The flora and fauna has changed - coniferous forests appeared, inhabited by different kinds of animals. A large number of small and large reservoirs, where the fish was being produced, gave impetus to the development of fishing. And hunting for forest animals was already different from the one that was before. The tools of labor and weapons found in people's homes, although made of stone, had better forms and ways of processing the material.

Archaeological monuments of the Stone Age also indicate that people have the beginnings of religious culture, of certain types of art. The social way of life is changing. Archaeological monuments of the Stone Age of Russia are found practically on the territory of the whole country. The most studied monuments found on the territory of the modern Kaliningrad, Moscow, Kaluga, Tver regions, Ussuri region and some other places.

A guide to the past

For the convenience of the work of scientists and the introduction of a certain order in this field of activity, all archaeological monuments of the world are registered and entered into a special list. The index indicates the affiliation of the find to a certain epoch. In addition, it indicates the types of archaeological sites, their description is described with a list of the main findings. The degree of destruction at the time of the discovery of the historical object is determined. For scientists, it is very important to indicate the exact location of the monument.

In such indexes, you can find information about which collections and museums in the world are stored objects found on the site of excavations. Any interested person has the opportunity to get acquainted with the list of literature, which gives the most complete and reliable description of archaeological monuments, the history of its discovery, the progress of work related to excavations. It can be literary, archival, scientific sources.

An excellent addition to the list-directory are archaeological maps, which, among other things, allow you to see what places on the Earth are still little studied by historians.

Guides for places of excavation are also available in each individual country. Archaeological monuments in Russia are also included in a special list, which is edited as new information is provided by scientists.

Archaeological monuments of Russia

Archaeological finds on the territory of Russia are not uncommon. Many of them are of world importance, forcing scientists to change the current understanding of the development and existence of different civilizations.

So, for example, in Khakassia, in the valley of White Iyusa, in 1982 an ancient sanctuary was discovered. The structure found here resembled an observatory. After studying the find, archaeologists came to the conclusion that even in the time of the Bronze Age, people who lived in the territory of modern Siberia could use the calendar and determine the time with amazing accuracy.

Even more surprising is the find in the Achinsk area. A rod of bones of a mammoth with an original drawing of not less than 18 thousand years. Scientists are sure that this object is also a kind of luni-solar calendar. Hence we can assume the existence of even more ancient civilizations than the Sumerian, Egyptian, Hindu, Persian, Chinese.

In the upper reaches of the Yenisei, in the Altai, there is the famous Arzhan mound among the archaeologists. It is interesting that the rules of its erection and arrangement coincide with those on which funeral constructions were erected in other regions and at other times.
In Central Asia, in southern parts of Siberia, in the Caucasus, in the Crimea, archaeologists have discovered remains of irrigation systems, roads, and places of metal smelting.
Archaeological monuments of Russia are located throughout the territory of the state. Siberia, the Far East, the European part of the country, the Urals, the Caucasus, Altai - those regions where unique historical finds were discovered. In many of these areas excavations are still carried out today.

The territory of the ancient Urals

Archaeological monuments of the Urals can rightfully be called famous. Historians talked about the existence of ancient settlements in these places several centuries ago. But only in 1987 a special expedition found a fortified settlement Arkaim. It is located in the Southern Urals, between the upper reaches of the Tobol and the Urals.

The expedition was appointed because of planning the construction of a large reservoir in these places. The detachment of archaeologists consisted of two scientists, several students and schoolchildren. None of the leadership and members of the expedition had any idea of the possibility of a unique historical monument in the steppe regions of the Urals region. The characteristic relief forms were seen accidentally.

Around the ancient site of ancient settlement, scientists discovered another 21 ancient settlements, which indicates the existence of a peculiar country of cities. In addition, this find once again proves that the archaeological monuments of the Urals are really unique.

In the same places, scientists found settlements of people who lived here 8-9 thousand years ago. Among other finds found remains of domestic animals. This suggests that even then the person was engaged in their breeding.

Afflicts only that excavations were conducted carelessly, with violation of generally accepted norms and rules. For this reason, part of the ancient settlement was destroyed. This attitude to history can be qualified as a crime. Protection of archaeological monuments should be carried out at the state level.

The history of Arkaim's discovery was continued. According to the plan for the construction of the reservoir, the entire territory where the historical monument is located, was to go under water. However, thanks to the active work of some representatives of the public and scientists, a unique object was managed to be defended.

In 1992, the whole area on which Arkaim is located, went to the Ilmen State Reserve, becoming its branch. To date, a complete study of the monument. For this, not only the method of excavation, but also other modern scientific methods of studying the material was used.

The remains of man and animals were found on the site of the architectural monument. It became known that even then horses were used as a means of transportation of a person. The harness was found, the tools used to make it.

Pottery and pottery are another evidence that indicates a new level of craft development. Arrowheads, metal parts of tools indicate this.

The most amazing thing for a modern man may seem that in the site of ancient settlement was discovered a sewerage system and a water pipe.

Samara and its distant past

Archaeological monuments of the Samara region are unusually diverse in their type and belonging to one or another epoch. This is because the territory of modern Samara was inhabited by people even 100 thousand years ago. Human beings were attracted by favorable natural conditions, which are characteristic of the steppe and forest-steppe belt.

Today, scientists know about two thousand of the oldest monuments that were discovered in the region. Some of them exist today, others have disappeared due to the impact on them of the forces of nature or as a result of human economic activity. There are many monuments, of which existence is known, but archaeological work for their study has not yet begun. In addition, we must remember that excavations of the monument sooner or later lead to its destruction. This happens at the time of work and after their completion, when the oldest structures are exposed to the external environment. Therefore, the decision on the need to excavate must be weighed and considered.
Archaeological monuments of the Samara region include the site of an ancient man, a settlement and a settlement, which were built by people in later eras. The mines, mines, where minerals were mined for the production of tools and military armor, are also valuable sources of information about the economic activities of our ancestors.
Kurgan and barren cemeteries are different types of archaeological sites. They are also in large numbers in the territory of Samara. Thanks to the finds contained in the cemeteries, the image of the person who lived here was restored, the type of his activity was revealed, the level of development of culture and art was studied. Scientists even managed to establish the belonging of people to a certain nationality.

Kazakhstan's rich historical past

Archaeological monuments of Kazakhstan are also a source of richest information about the resettlement of people on the territory of the country. Given that in ancient times there was no written language, monuments can be considered almost the only evidence of the past.

One of the most famous memorial complexes - Besshatyrsky mound - is on the territory of modern Kazakhstan. The structure is striking in its scope - it includes 31 cemetery. The diameter of the largest of them is 104 meters, and the height is 17 meters. Similar facilities exist in other parts of the country.

The Saka tribes

The peoples belonging to the eastern branch of the Scythian nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes received a collective name - saki. In the first millennium BC they inhabited the modern territories of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, the coast of the Aral Sea.

Archaeological monuments of the Sakas opened for their descendants their way of life, the development of the level of culture, tradition. Grave burial mounds are concentrated mainly in the places of winter tribal settlements. These are the places that the Saks particularly valued.
Excavations conducted in different habitats of peoples allowed to conclude that the main type of economic activity of the Saka peoples was nomadic, semi-nomadic and settled cattle breeding. Tribes bred sheep, camels, horses. Based on the materials obtained during the excavations, it was even possible to establish which breeds of animals the Saki cultivated.

In addition, it was established that the peoples belonging to the tribes were divided into categories - priests, warriors and community members. Among the warriors was chosen the king, who was the ruler of the tribes, united in alliances.

Among the most important for science Saka archeological monuments - such as the burial grounds of Issyk, Uigarak, Teisken. Besshatyr and Chiliktinsky burial mounds are known far beyond Kazakhstan, Russia and the CIS countries.

During the excavation of the Issyk mound, the remains of a man were found, along with which in the grave chamber were rich equipment and many other household items. Among them, scientists counted about four thousand pieces of gold. This, most likely, speaks about the high position of the person who rested here, and that people believed in the existence of the afterlife.

Protection of archaeological monuments

Scientists and public figures of some countries have been worrying over the years about illegal visits to artifacts and causing them significant harm. Thanks to the active work of these people, a list of archaeological sites that are most often ruined is compiled.
These historical relics are in the Krasnodar and Primorye Territories, Perm, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Astrakhan and Penza regions, Kislovodsk and many other regions of Russia. In total in this sad list there are about sixty monuments, whose fate largely depends on the country's leadership, and on its ordinary citizens.