2024 archaeological excavations on Konnaya Square in Tomsk

In the 2024 field season, excavations were carried out on a previously identified section of cultural layer on 10 Konnaya Square. Konnaya Square, located in the historical part of Tomsk, is promising for the study of early history of the city, as well as the search for a pre-Russian cultural layer. The excavation was linked to a pit opened in previous years. The stratigraphy is represented by upper layers of the construction filling, with a total thickness exceeding 2 m, which overlapped the cultural layer consisting of brown loam, saturated with a large amount of wood chips and manure. In some areas, the thickness of this layer, having a historical and cultural value, reached 1-1.2 m. In upper horizons, dating back to the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, fragments of ruined wooden structures were recorded. There were no structures within the boundaries of the excavation in earlier depositions. Excessive moisture in the layer ensured a good preservation of osteological materials and wooden products. The collection of items consisting of a set of artifact categories traditional for Tomsk, is most widely represented by fragments of ceramic dishes of various types and assortments, a fragment of a thick-walled crucible, a large number of forged nails, staples, large fastening nails, horse equipment parts, fragments of glass, earthenware, and porcelain items, coins, etc. The obtained results allowed us to expand the lower boundary of the site to the last quarter of the 18th century, to supplement the materials used to describe the everyday culture of the inhabitants of the central part of the town and to reconstruct adaptation features of the Russian settlers in an excessively humid landscape.