Everyday life of a sergeant of the Tara garrison from the Ananyino village in the 17th-18th centuries: continuation (evidence of excavations in 2023)

During 15 years of excavations at the Russian village of Ananyino, 2960 sq. m of area and nine dwellings have been studied. In 2022-2023, a peasant’s house of about 60 sq. m was explored. The size of the dwelling and set of things discovered inside suggest that this was the house where the family of a small unit leader, sergeant of Tara garrison, lived. The household activities of the family were traditional they kept livestock of horses, cows, sheep, and pigs, which is confirmed by archeozoological evidence, finds of horseshoes and special horseshoe nails ("ukhnali” in Russian), and hunchback scythes. Family members planted wheat and ground it in hand mills, which is indicated by the discovered millstones. They fished with nets and dragnets as evidenced by sinkers, and with hooks and line. An arrowhead, bullets, and parts of firearms reveal that they hunted different animals, including large kinds. Numerous adornments and accessories of clothing included buttons, rings, earrings, beads, and pendants. The unique find was three ear picks of different shapes on one keychain. The family members wore boots, high-heeled shoes, and moccasin-type shoes ("chirki” in Russian). Everyday life of the family was represented by cooking pottery and tableware, including polished vessels which, together with porcelain and glass, belonged to high status dishware, and iron spoon. Elements of chest binding, locks, and parts of candlesticks were found. Leisure culture was represented by chess three chess pieces were discovered. Glass ball toys belong to the realm of childhood. The habit of smoking was manifested by seven clay pipe heads, including one made of Chinese faience. The numismatic collection from the dwelling consisted of 33 coins from the beginning of the reign of Peter 1 ("cheshuika” in Russian) and 32 coins from the early-mid 18th century.