Black archaeologists of Peru. They laugh at the history books
This phrase can often be heard behind your back, in some village, when a cop arrives at the scene. Actually this is not true, black archeology and the usual hobby of searching for old coins are two different things.
Black archaeologists are people engaged in excavations on historical values, without having permission to carry out excavations. archaeological sites These people do not bring any value to the state. As a rule, finds are sold to the black market.
According to scientists, black archeology is as barbaric as tearing out pages from an ancient book. After all, things found by black archaeologists, as a rule, end up in private collections and turn out to be lost to science.
But the black diggers themselves believe that it would be better for them to settle in private collections than to rot in the ground. After all, the state does not allocate money to archaeologists for excavations; when they come to the site of the so-called excavations, no work is carried out there for years.
It’s a pity that these people are not interested in fields after plowing, or ancient villages. Their goal is mounds, excavation sites, soldiers' graves. And after reading mine, you can understand that it is not always good to dig on graves.
Every year in our country, thousands of armies of such black diggers operate, destroying a thin layer of earth and filling the black market with finds. As white archaeologists say, “if you decide to sell something valuable, thanks to the black monsters the price is terribly low.”
Black Archeology and Law
There is a law, although it has been approved in Ukraine. For illegal excavations in places that have archaeological value, you can get a fine of 2,550 hryvnia (previously it was 1,700), or two years in prison. True, as always, black cops are awarded a suspended sentence.
For white archaeologists with a metal detector, there is a zone from the mounds that must be observed. It is 50 m from the embankment. Be careful, otherwise you might get hit hard.
Art. 243 Destruction or damage to historical and cultural monuments.
Art. 243.1 Illegal extraction of archaeological objects of historical, cultural or scientific value.
By the way, attention! Our Rada wants to introduce a law “to evade the mandatory transfer for permanent storage to the state part of the Museum Fund of Archaeological Objects,” but it has been introduced for about a year. And if they introduce it, it will be bad.
Black archeology of the second world war
A bunch of soldiers are considered missing in action. There are clubs that find such burials and inform relatives. They should not be confused with black deeds.
Black cops interfere with the work of such clubs and volunteers. This is a “black business” for them. They often remove orders and badges and send them abroad, leaving nothing for the relatives of such soldiers. But perhaps someone was looking for them?
Orders of our soldiers and German ones are sold very willingly to Germany. Also, German collectors are ready to buy places where the remains of tanks are located. At least in every village there are legends about a tiger drowning in the lake.
If you are detained by the police, what should you do?
This does not apply to black archaeologists. If they are detained by law enforcement agencies, then it will be for a long time. Sometimes you’re walking along the beach with a metal detector, or you’re walking to your car along the side of the road, and then a fat guy in uniform comes up to you and starts pumping his license, thinking “this fool doesn’t know the laws anyway.”
Therefore, in order for this not to happen, first of all, you should not worry, the excitement is very visible, and then the pressure from the police may intensify, in the end you will give the MD and that’s it.
First of all, the policeman must introduce himself and show his identification. If this does not happen, ask him about it, and ask him threateningly. If the policeman does not respond to your request, then you must say “According to Part 2 of Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Police””, you, as a police officer, when addressing a citizen, must introduce yourself, say your position, and show your identification. Since he didn’t do this, you can safely go.
It’s a different story if the policeman introduced himself and showed his identification. Then, you must write down his last name and first name. Although you won’t need it if you act according to my scheme. Well, write it down anyway, so he will understand that he has contacted the wrong person and may even be afraid to continue the conversation.
The main thing is not to resist, not to run away, not to show an agitated appearance, to scare you with the law, and not to sign anything. You can demand compliance with your constitutional right, turn on the camera or record audio on your phone, this is not illegal.
Well, this is where I will finish my article, now you know what black archeology and black archeology of the Second World War are and most importantly, you know what to do if you are stopped by law enforcement agencies.
P.S.. And finally, I advise you to watch the video, one day with a black archaeologist.
"BLACK ARCHAEOLOGISTS" MAKE A DISCOVERY
“Or maybe I found a treasure somewhere, but you don’t know? So yesterday I became generous... Mr. Zametov knows that I found a treasure!..”
F.M. Dostoevsky. Crime and Punishment
The small ancient Greek town of Nikonium existed on the banks of the Dniester estuary for only about 400 years, from the 6th to the 3rd centuries BC. They began to mint their own coins here quite early, which predetermined the special interest in the city among collectors and “black archaeologists” these days.
Nikonium has been known to scientists since the 19th century, when the remains of urban structures from ancient times were discovered near the village of Roksolany in the Odessa region of Ukraine. For more than forty years now, Scientific research. And almost all these years, an invisible competition has been going on between archaeologists and robbers in ancient ruins. So far, “amateurs” are winning it by a significant margin. Every year, scientists have difficulty finding money, which is enough for one and a half, maximum two months of excavations. Their competitors can “work” for the rest of the time. They are helped by the fact that the Roksolanskoe settlement with the necropolis is not protected, is located outside the village and is being intensively destroyed due to erosion of the high banks. Therefore, it is not surprising that the most interesting discovery during the entire period of research and looting of this monument was again made not by archaeologists, but by robbers. And this became known by accident.
In 1997, one of the local “experts” of the Roksolan settlement unexpectedly opened up. He told museum staff that in 1994, after the closure of the archaeological expedition, he carefully examined the uncovered excavations. On one of them I noticed a protruding processed slab and, together with a friend, began to dig through it. There were several gold plaques under the slab! Inspired by the finds, the “seekers” began unauthorized excavations, as a result of which a stone crypt with unique finds was completely opened. Without knowing it, they committed most interesting discovery. More precisely, they could do it and write their names in the history of science forever. But that did not happen. They were only interested in profit and did not care about fame at all. The finds were sold to a collector from Odessa, and only accidental revelations with scientists made it possible to establish the scale of the loss.
The expedition members subsequently confirmed that they had indeed seen, at the edge of the excavation, a structure made of large stone slabs tightly fitted to each other. But the excavations, like the money, were already running out. There was neither the money nor the time to study these plates. There was no particular desire: no one doubted that these were the remains of an ordinary basement. The fact is that before this, only the remains of stone cellars and utility pits were found on the site. This time the experience played with archaeologists cruel joke and turned their luck away from them.
But the unauthorized excavators showed great persistence and “examined” the stone structure with almost scientific scrupulousness. For a month, they came to the site as if they were going to work, carefully sifted the earth inside the crypt, selecting all the finds from it. At a distance of 1 m around him, they also dug up and double-checked everything. And during all this time no one stopped them!
The treasure hunters did not keep any documentation and only much later made clumsy drawings and amateurish drawings of the things they found. Judging by them, it was possible to find out that the crypt was located at a depth of two meters from the surface and was covered on top with a well-processed limestone slab. Even in ancient times it was robbed, so there was no skeleton at the bottom, but in the filling at various depths there were plaques from clothes. Apparently, the robbery occurred shortly after the burial, when the body had not yet decomposed and was pulled to the surface along with expensive equipment and gold-trimmed clothing. Nevertheless, according to local “experts,” at least... 750 gold plaques and jewelry remained in the crypt. No wonder they sifted the earth so carefully! They even weighed some large gold objects to determine the price for collectors. Only one gold plaque was left as a souvenir. In a fit of generosity, they were even ready to sell it to archaeologists. But the state did not have the money for such a purchase.
This second bronze pommel in the world depicting Popeye and the eagles never fell into the hands of archaeologists.
But the most interesting find of the “excavators” was a bronze top, which lay in the corner of the burial structure under a layer of compacted clay. It was a socket-shaped object with a central rod in the form of a naked figure of a bearded man with his arms outstretched forward. Four branches-horns are equally distant from it, at the ends of which there are figures of eagles with outstretched wings. According to the unanimous conclusion of experts, this find from Nikonium is a ritual pommel with the image of Popeye, one of the main Scythian gods. Popeye among these tribes corresponded to the image of Zeus in ancient greek mythology. The discovery of the pommel is difficult to overestimate, since before this only one similar find was known near Dnepropetrovsk.
This symbol of power certainly indicates that a representative was buried here high nobility Scythia. It is the rarest cult object throughout the Eurasian steppes and in its meaning corresponds to the “royal standards” of Egypt and Babylon. The use of the pommel in various ceremonies when moving the Scythian king, placing his headquarters, and conducting certain festivals and rituals was undoubted. Such regalia, most likely, like power, were inherited and could only belong to the king.
This conclusion is also supported by the fact that two golden rhytons and a horse skull were found near the southern wall of the crypt under a layer of specially placed clay. The rhyton in the form of a ram had a cast gold frame with ridges along the edges, the second one depicted the head of a deer or a hare with ears tightly pressed together.
The objects described by the robbers allowed scientists to clearly date the Nikonian crypt to the mid-5th century BC.
In general, this complex has much in common with the rich Scythian burials of the Northern Black Sea region. A distant analogy to it can even be the famous burial in the Kul-Oba mound, where, most likely, the Scythian king and his wife were buried in clothes embroidered with gold jewelry and a magnificent set of ritual vessels.
The location of the crypt on the territory of the ancient city is in itself an extraordinary case. It testifies that the deceased was an important person in the policy. Taking into account the coinage of Nikonius, the name of the Scythian king Skilos emerges, whose fate was very popular in ancient world. We know about him from Herodotus’ story about Scythia. Skil was the son of the Scythian king Ariapith and a Greek woman from Istria. Mother taught her son Greek language and a letter. He was probably one of the first literate kings of Scythia. Under the influence of his mother, Skil had no respect for the rough Scythian customs and leaned towards the Hellenic way of life. It is known that he often came with his army to the city of Olbia, where he had a palace. Skil left his guards outside the city walls, and he himself dressed in Hellenic clothes and lived for months among the Greeks.
The Scythians condemned this behavior of the king and eventually rebelled against him, accusing him of treason. They chose his brother Octamasad as king. Skil was forced to flee to Thrace, which his fellow tribesmen immediately opposed. Not wanting war, the Thracian king Sital gave Skil in exchange for his brother, who was captured by the Scythians. Lovely family relationships ended with Okgamasad immediately cutting off the head of his unlucky brother and showing his fellow tribesmen how worship of foreigners could end. “This is how the Scythians protect their customs, and those who adopt foreign laws are punished this way,” Herodotus summed up his story. This instructive story is by no means a legend. Archaeological finds have confirmed the historicity of Skil's biography and his death around 450 BC.
Findings of coins with the name Scyla, minted in Nikonia in the middle of the 5th century BC, open up completely new pages of his life. In the light of this discovery, the hypothesis sounds quite plausible that after fleeing Olbia, Scylos could have been hiding for some time in this small ancient Greek colony.
The unusual location of the crypt not on the necropolis, but inside the city walls, the discovery of a Scythian pommel of clearly royal rank, as well as evidence of Skilos’s close connection with Nikonius suggest that it was he who was buried in the twice-robbed burial. This assumption is more than likely, since the dating of this structure and the date of Skil’s death completely coincide. Moreover, Octamasad, having beheaded his brother, was unlikely to show him any posthumous honors. The disgraced tsar-traitor could not be buried in Scythia as a representative of the royal family.
But the discovery of a unique pommel shows that Skiles had devoted associates who could secretly remove the body and bury it in their favorite Greek city. After all, the robbed grave contained a traditional set of Scythian implements, testifying to the former power of the buried person. The found pommel with the image of the main god of the Scythians can be considered not only as a hereditary regalia, but also as a symbol of royal power interrupted by violence.
The ancient burial complex discovered by robbers is truly unique. Only an accident led to the fact that it was not discovered by professional archaeologists. But we know how great the role of chance is in archaeological research.
Clumsy drawings are all that remains of the graceful rhytons with images of the head of a ram and a doe (?) from the crypt in Nikonia
Something else strikes. A rare thing was done on the banks of the Dniester estuary scientific discovery. If scientists had done it, it would have been possible to write several pages in ancient history not only Ukraine, but also the south of Eastern Europe. However, this event did not excite anyone. In Nikonia, predatory excavations and the sale of finds were openly carried out. The “excavators” themselves weren’t exactly hiding and, in the end, talked about their “achievements.” True, they told us only when everything they found was sold. And again, no response from the authorities.
I understand my colleagues well, who, having learned about the findings, preferred to establish a good relationship with the “excavators”, instead of reporting to the police. Firstly, the latter is unsafe, and secondly, it is useless. The current practice has shown that the authorities cannot and, most importantly, do not want to put a reliable barrier to the plunderers of cultural property. Today, the authorities have a lot of other concerns, and the protection of archaeological values is not among its priorities. Rather, on the contrary, very influential forces are interested in ensuring that “shadow” archeology continues to destroy ancient monuments with impunity. And this despite the fact that the official Ukrainian ideology is not averse to classifying the Scythians, along with the bearers of Trypillian culture, as the direct predecessors of the Ukrainian people!
If we take into account that not only in Russia, but also among our neighbors, they didn’t care about further development sciences, brought various research institutes and state museums, refused to conduct targeted scientific expeditions and purchases of even unique exhibits, it becomes clear why the activities of “black archaeologists” have revived and are successfully developing. And it should not be surprising that in this case Odessa archaeologists established contact with nice rural guys who made a living by robbing ancient graves, and received at least some scientific information, and did not act according to a broken law.
Today, the Odessa Archaeological Museum continues its annual short-term excavations at the Roksolan settlement. But this is only possible thanks to the cooperation and funding of the University of Torun in Poland. Having learned that the museum houses a unique collection from Cyprus, the Greeks repaired the leaking roof of the building and paid for the work to redecorate the exhibition of the ancient hall. In one of the richest cities in Ukraine there was no money for this. And none of those in power either in Odessa or Kyiv are ashamed of this. Back in the 60-70s of the last century, an attempt was made to organize an archaeological reserve in Nikonia, but it was never implemented. Similar conversations continue today, but their implementation is no longer even considered. And during this time, the crypt of the Scythian king and a host of other valuable objects were discovered and plundered. What else needs to happen on the ruins of the ancient polis for them to be taken under protection?
Once during a meeting, the director of the Odessa Archaeological Museum V.P. Vanchugov told me that the bronze pommel from Nikonium was allegedly resold from Odessa to an unknown collector in Tiraspol. The fate of the remaining finds is unknown... We can only state that this story has a tragic ending for science.
“BLACK” HOBBY (monologue of the “black archaeologist”)
Let's immediately define the terms. In our slang, a “black digger” is not someone who digs without a license. This is the one who breaks human laws. All search engines hate them. These are the “black diggers”. They don't care what they find; it doesn't matter where they look. The only important thing is that it should be expensive. Being called a “black digger” makes me feel bad. Let us be careful when we say: not a “black digger”, but a “search engine”.
This world of “search engines” is quite large. It is divided into several segments. The first segment is almost half of all Russian search engines. These are the people for whom the search archaeological artifacts the same hobby as hunting or fishing. Or like picking mushrooms, for example. These search engines are just gambling enthusiasts. They do not pursue any financial interests. Among them are many numismatists and falerists [collectors of orders, medals, badges, etc. – approx. ed.].
Among this group there is one, but very important rule: never dig within the boundaries of architectural and archaeological monuments [excavations on the territory of monuments are interpreted by law as a crime - approx. ed.].
I’ll say it again: we only dig in places that are not monuments. But these places are often incredibly interesting.
For example, there is Borodino Field. This is an archaeological site. I didn't even touch the ground there. I never took out my metal detector. Because this monument is being studied by specialists. This is their job. But the secret is that the Borodino field, like a monument, is fenced by a river. Everything beyond the river is no longer a monument. But there were also some skirmishes between our people and the French. And there I was already doing excavations.
Unfortunately, seven percent of those who like to dig are outright fools. Maybe there are more. They are not evil and do not want to deliberately dig in the territories of archaeological monuments. But such a fool may not understand that he is standing on a real mound. You should be afraid of such diggers. They seem to be good people. But treat archaeological heritage It’s simply not possible the way they do it. It's like driving drunk. They just don't understand what they are doing.
PASSION AROUND TREASURES
I've never been interested in the monetary value of the items I find. My goal is to touch history. It's much more expensive.
When I first found pieces of a Russian cast-iron core and showed it to my son, he and I sat down and began to imagine what a person feels when such a thing whistles past him... And if this thing still hits him, then there is unlikely to be anything left there. By the way, only one fragment of this core weighed about one and a half kilograms. When you hold such a cannonball in your hands, you understand how your grandfathers fought. It wasn't someone who told you something. This you yourself feel and understand with your hands.
I also search for the sake of searching. This is an adventure. You know, in my entire digging career I have found two treasures. I was walking along the Volga with a metal detector. Suddenly it makes a double sound - this means that somewhere very close lies non-ferrous metal. I start digging. And suddenly the shovel hits the boards. I lift the boards and see plastic film, and under it there are new boards laid across the first ones. Then again the film and again the boards. So three layers. Finally I lift the last boards and see three boxes.
The first box contained empty three-liter jars and a pack of salt. The second box was from an artillery kit. It was covered in mold and empty. And in the third box there was a lamp, a hatchet, a homemade knife and a saw. I realized that these guys were playing Tom Sawyer. The friends I showed it to said that the most valuable thing in the “treasure” was the jars. And they took them for themselves.
And I found the second treasure in an abandoned hut, under the floorboards near the stove. It was a cast iron pot full of rusty paper clips. I can’t imagine who needed to hide this!
WHEN EXCAVATION IS BUSINESS
In addition to amateurs, there are also professional search engines. There are about 25% of them. They have good technique: metal detectors, quadcopters (with their help they comb the area). By the way, their technical solutions are sometimes very ingenious. For example, they attach a powerful magnet to a fishing rod and carefully comb the bottom of the reservoir with it. Or they make a box from a sieve and pass sludge from the bottom through it. I used to think it was uninteresting. But when one man laid out in front of me such a pile of coins that he had picked up in the river in two days, I was simply amazed. The most interesting thing was to start disassembling this slide.
Professional search engines also do not work in the territories of monuments. They are excavating old villages and tracts. In many places, for example in the Moscow region, such diggers are monitored by police drones. They track the diggers from the air, find their cars, and record their license plates. And then, when leaving the highway, the car is slowed down and checked.
These people are already selling their finds to antique lovers. This is done on specialized sites, at flea markets...Go online to any digging site. Anything is for sale: dishes, jewelry. It's not just antiques. You can't imagine how much jewelry is lost on our beaches! on old beaches, for example, there is a lot of gold jewelry from the Soviet era. Professional search engines don’t care what time the find dates back to. The main thing is its value. If you can get something for it, no problem.
MORALITY AND THE GERMANS
About 22% of all searchers are good specialists on the military search for victims of the Second World War. These are not official diggers, but they have their own code. They do not shy away from selling something they find, but at the same time they always remain human. Here's the situation for you.
One of the unofficial search engines posts on the forum a photograph of a dead German found in a trench. This German has a whole row of gold teeth. Then the same search engine again shows a photograph of the skull, in which the gold teeth are no longer present. “We took away some of Fritz’s gold,” he writes on the website. I haven’t read such open swearing in his direction from other search engines for a long time. Then the person who posted the photo admitted that he was joking. No one ever steals jewelry! Even a German.
Alas, among the military diggers there are still about three percent of scumbags. They love to dig up military, especially German, cemeteries. They even have the cynical term “bed”. According to rumors, according to topographic maps they find these graves. There, the crosses on most of the graves were demolished, but the graves themselves remained. They dig up all the graves in a row. Everything valuable is sold. These are people who, it seems to me, have nothing sacred. But you can’t introduce such prohibitive laws because of a small group of scumbags.
INCONVENIENT LAW
There is a district called Mitino in Moscow. Few people know that the hollow that separates Mitino from the neighboring area is part of the ancient route from the Varangians to the Bulgars of the 7th-12th centuries [“Volga Trade Route” - approx. ed. ]. There are no archaeological sites there. But one day I found a hatchet there. He turned out to be a tool Eastern Slavs XII-XIII centuries. I don't need this ancient hatchet at all. I want to give it to the specialists. But I can not. If I bring it to specialists, then I am a criminal. I have no right to walk around with a metal detector!
But there are worse situations. So I am a member of the numismatists club. There have already been unpleasant precedents in this club. The police asked me to document where I got each coin in the collection. Who did I buy it from, when did I buy it and at what price. For each. coin I should have a receipt. I have been involved in numismatics for almost 40 years! Where do I get receipts for Soviet coins or for coins purchased on flea market in Paris? And if these receipts are not there, it will all be confiscated. There have been cases when people exhibited their collections on the forum, and they were also confiscated.
Today, from the point of view of the law, I am a criminal. They don't respect me. It turns out that if a person takes a gun, he is definitely a murderer. This is wrong.
Perhaps many things need to be legalized. For example, the discovery of a treasure. You've found a treasure. What to do? It would be wise for you to go straight to the museum, show your treasure, have it registered and described there. Some unique things were left in the museum, but the rest - archaeological consumer goods - would be given to the person who found it. That would be reasonable.
HISTORY AGAINST DIGGERS (monologue of the “white archaeologist”)
Mikhail Gonyany, head of the Center, speaks archaeological research"Kulikovo Field":
Any person who works without an “open sheet” [special permission issued by the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences – approx. ed.], does not write a scientific report on the results of his work and does not submit it to the Russian Academy of Sciences, is a “black digger”. Any. Because he pulls information out of the ground; therefore, it destroys it. Willingly or unwittingly, with or without profit.
Here's an example. A friend of mine has been interested in collecting Russian items since childhood. He is an electrician by profession. He doesn't rob anyone, he just collects coins and pre-revolutionary bottles. He grew up in the town of Molodi near Moscow. There, in 1572, the Russian army under the leadership of Prince Vorotynsky fought with the army of the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey. This battle is very important for our national history. Here, for the first time, a victory was won over Crimean Tatars. In 1571, Devlet-Girey burned Moscow, and in 1572 he went to Rus' to finally subjugate, divide into uluses and suck out its economic strength. But we managed to build a walk-city and win this battle.
A friend of mine walked around this place with a metal detector for 20 years. I found coins, bullets, arrows, bits. But he took mostly coins. And he found coins there liter jar. Along the way, he went to his small homeland to the Kaluga region. There he wandered around. Then I went to Ryazan region. I looked there. He poured all the coins into one jar. And when I saw him, I told him: I don’t need your coins, I need the places where they were. These coins floated there for a reason. Those who fought on that Molodinsky field wore a wicket and a bag of money on their belts. He got lost in battle and lost sleep. Based on the location of these coins, we archaeologists could establish a lot of things.
My friend did not walk across this field alone. Crowds of people walked there. They did this without evil intentions, but who found what - now you can’t find the end. Archaeologists also visited, of course. In 2009, we found 34 historical finds in this field. In 2014 there were already 8 finds. It was already felt that there were much fewer finds.
And in 2017, they decided to build up part of the Molodinsky field with a logistics center on 60 hectares. And in order to slow down this construction, it was necessary to find the exact location of the battle. The vice-governor of the Moscow region instructed me to do this in May 2017. I left there in mid-April, realizing that I, as a scientist, as a citizen, cannot allow warehouses to be built on the site of a battle that is no less important than the Battle of Kulikovo. This place must be preserved. But how to find it if there is nothing left there? The robbers took everything to the ground. I worked there for almost 4 months. There are practically no bullets or coins. I found approximately the site of the battle, but did not find its boundaries. So what should we save now?
There are several articles and by-laws that prevent the activities of black diggers, but this does not work. The police don't know who to catch. To catch a robber, you need to catch him at an archaeological site, and you need to find historical artifacts in his pockets. The robber knows this and puts bottle caps in his pockets. Often, robbers have a man with a walkie-talkie standing on guard and reporting who is approaching them. They wash off immediately. How to prove?
The chief archaeologist of Moscow, Leonid Kondrashov, and I periodically make raids. We're taking the police with us. But the police are very reluctant to travel with us. We negotiate with the colonels, and the privates slowly leave when we already see these robbers. If the police arrive early, we manage to grab someone, and if not, we scare them away and they run away. Only the police have the right to search a person. But not me. I can only be present and say: the artifacts from his pockets are ancient or not. Well, a few people got caught this fall. They confiscated their equipment, search equipment, and that’s it.
This hopeless situation. The law doesn't work. If the police don't catch, who will catch? If I catch someone myself, I do it differently. We go out - ten men. “Here’s your car,” we say, “here’s your metal detector, put it under the car and drive around it.” I can't say that I took anything away from him. And he understands that we have the right. But this is only in those places where we have been working for a long time. And in other places there is no one to catch.
Dedicated to the adventure of the “metal detecting enthusiast” Sergei Kulinichev. Naturally, commentators immediately surfaced and simply “screamed” about lawlessness, corrupt “arches” and blameless lovers of metal detecting. In this regard, I cannot resist making a number of comments about this story and its characters.
1. About the “archaeological mafia” and “harmless hobby”
Kulinichev and his comrades, proving their “fluffiness”, like to blame the archaeological community for anything. Here is a fresh comment from one of the “diggers”:
Nikolay - Peter
This Kulinichev a real man fighting against official archaeological merchants - the archaeological mafia, who seek to prohibit the real study of history and hobbies of tens of thousands of people, misleading the police by knowingly informing them false information. All this is done to hide the arch. finds with subsequent sale by dishonest official archaeologists and for the theft of funds allocated by the state for the activities of archaeologists, in most cases providing zero reports when they plundered the discovered archaeologists. finds. The most greedy archaeologists rush at any person with a metal detector, whether he is in a plowed field or walking along the road, promising him serious problems...
So, I am that “greedy archaeologist who attacks any person with a metal detector.” And you can judge what I am hiding or not hiding from this journal, or just come on an expedition during excavations. You can find out about “zero reports” (and finds that are “hidden”) by going to any archaeological portal with news, an electronic database of archaeological finds, or by reading the latest archaeological collections. I tried to figuratively explain the harm of a “harmless” hobby in this article.
2. About Sergei Kulinichev and his struggle
Sergei Kulinichev from Bryansk is an ambiguous personality and even in the “diggers’ camp” the attitude towards him is contradictory.
Through his activities, he is trying to achieve the opportunity to dig with impunity with a metal detector in any place that is not fenced with a barbed wire fence with machine gun towers in the corners and is not designated as a cultural heritage site. The gist of his argument goes something like this: “laws prohibiting unauthorized archaeological excavations, apply only to archaeologists, and “non-archaeologists” can search and dig up antiquities completely freely." The statement is very crazy (although sometimes it works even in court). In principle, this is the same as saying: "hunting laws apply only to hunters with hunting licenses ". Like that:
A: “Citizen, you are hunting in the reserve and must (in accordance with the law) be punished”
B: “Well, this doesn’t concern me. I’m not a hunter. I don’t have a hunting license. Without it, I’m just a moron with a gun.”
A: “But you are here with a gun. You shot in the reserve!”
B: “So I was shooting at cans. I had no intention of hunting at all, I just love Fresh air, leisure and empty cans! And the wild boar jumped behind the cans, I accidentally shot it and was going to take it to the veterinarian. And there are no animals in your reserve, who is there to protect?”
A: “So it’s not because you destroyed everyone!”
B: “I don’t exterminate animals, I love them and save them for people. After all, scientists will never get to them anyway and they will all die out due to acid rain. But I have an excellent collection of stuffed animals. Would you like to show me? Some of them (those that moths ate) I even donated to the school museum.”
A: "???" [falls into hysterics, starts banging his head against the trunk of a nearby oak tree, and is suddenly carried out].
In short, like Kharms: “immediately he turned pale as a sheet, and swayed like a reed and unexpectedly died.”
.....
Kulinichev himself is well aware that he is searching for ancient objects that are located on the territory of archaeological sites. And a monument is a monument by the very fact of its existence, regardless of whether it is included in the register or not (this is approximately how to consider that a person without a passport is not a person at all). That is why archaeologists examine areas (under development and construction) where no monuments are listed and annually identify dozens and hundreds of new settlements and burial grounds.
And Mr. Kulinichev is preparing to further ruin cultural heritage Russia. Here's how he talks about it on one of the forums (where he is known under the nickname Plotnik) -
3. About selfless “metal detecting enthusiasts”
Regarding the other heroes of this story and the fields “where there is nothing,” I will present a few more facts.
In the evening, May 19, after the arrest of D. A. Kharkin and V. M. Lastovka, the following message appeared on the Reviewdetector forum, popular among “diggers,” from a user under the nickname -=Demon=- -
I wonder what this -=Demon=- is doing here?
Let's look at previous messages.
On May 6, 2012, a -=Demon=- put up for identification and evaluation a newly mined pendant made from a 15th-century Western European gold coin found somewhere near Novgorod. Anybody knows that such an object can only lie in the cultural layer of an archaeological site, and even then not just any one. The coin is outstanding. However, let’s leave its numismatic significance outside the brackets. She is much more important as historical source, indicating contacts of residents Novgorod land With Western Europe. But it is precisely this component that, as a result of “demonic” actions, has been irretrievably lost - we will never know which monument this testimony refers to.
That is, as you can see, this man has been actively plundering archaeological sites for a long time. Our common cultural heritage.
Another “fighter against lawlessness” who came to the scene of the incident to defend Kharkin and Lastovka. He turned out to be a Novgorod dealer for Minelab (a foreign manufacturer of metal detectors) and the owner of the Echo of War store at the Novgorod bus station, which sells, among other things, items that can only be obtained through illegal excavations. Here are his showcases -
That's what they are, selfless history buffs with metal detectors...
Among the “metal detectorists” there are those who do not understand what they are doing or are simply having fun mindlessly. Addressing them, I will say:
- Give it up. This is not a hobby, this is the destruction of our history and our culture.
P.S. Yesterday we went for another examination in Poozerie (a key area for studying early history Novgorod and Novgorod land). We were right next to Vasilievsky, where the initial events of this story unfolded. A few kilometers away is the medieval settlement of Georgiy with its accompanying villages. Both near the settlement (in the photographs there is a hill overgrown with trees) and in the village located opposite (where we caught the “treasure hunter” in 2011) there are fresh traces of metal detecting.
What kind of culture is this...
Black archeology is not just about profit. Some people are so passionate about this that they even create organizations and groups of black archaeologists under mystical names like “black order” and other things, with their own websites, meetings and symbols. But most of yet, ordinary groups of black archaeologists who deliberately break the law for profit. Black archeology has long been developing around the world.
In 2011 in Bryansk region black diggers found a treasure of Veneti - unique products of Slavic craftsmen that date back to the 3rd century AD. These are unique products of Slavic jewelers. This find became public knowledge only because they tried to transport these valuables abroad. The FSB stopped the crime, and the finds were sent to the museum. Among them were copper jewelry, harnesses, and a total of 1,500 items. They were found, presumably, on the banks of the Desna River. Most of the ancient artifacts were decorated with red, opaque glass. Such products were made by Slavic settlers, whom historians called Veneti. A mirror made in chinese style. This may indicate contacts between the ancient Slavs and the Chinese.
Unique products of Slavic jewelers - Veneta!
World black archeology is very common in water spaces. Since most countries strive to develop tourism, most resorts allow diving. Both tourists and black archaeologists dive in search of finds. Sometimes even the very slogan of travel agencies sounds like a direct call for black archeology. For example, “Underwater diving. Best country for treasure hunters." Scientists archaeologists are not very happy with this, but everything is supported at the state level.
The world's first computer, the Antikythera Mechanism, was found off the coast of Greece. This mechanism was used to calculate the movement celestial bodies, and dates back to 100 BC. It was found by an ordinary diver in 1900.
The world's first computer - the Antikythera Mechanism In Ukraine in 2012, parts of a horse harness were found by a black archaeologist. He was discovered when he put this find up for sale on the Internet for $1,000. The find dates back to the 10th century AD. It is assumed that this is a Pecheneg memo. Now it has been transferred to Lugansk local history museum and has been participating in the exhibition since 2013.
Another direction of black archeology was presented by the Japanese Fujimura, who won world fame by indicating the places where to look for treasure. He was even nicknamed “The Hand of God.” Later, when he was caught burying the treasure, Fujimura admitted that he himself looked for the treasure and then buried it. Thus, he wanted to become famous throughout the world.
Parts of horse harness - Pecheneg memo! In 1950, black archaeologists from China discovered the remains of a creature called Archioraptor. It was a link between a dinosaur and a bird. The appearance of this creature was like that of a bird with the tail of a dinosaur. This property was taken out of the country and sold to a private collector. Later they found evidence that these remains were glued together, and this is not an archioraptor, but two different animals.
Black Archeology of the World - Archioraptor In 2011, archaeologists on the island of Peloponnese were arrested after they dug up a bronze helmet belonging to Greek warriors of the 6th century BC. They also found 6 silver coins. According to Greek law, everything excavated from before 1453 belongs to the state. Such actions are punishable by law.
As we can see, black archaeologists exist all over the world, and throughout the world there is a connection between collectors of antiquities and black diggers. Since black diggers are not engaged in good deeds, connoisseurs and collectors cannot count on their honesty. Despite this, demand is growing, and supply is trying to keep up with it.