Field archaeological works at the “Berezovskoe Gorodishche” regional cultural heritage site (16th century - mid-20th century) in 2022

In 2022, archaeological works at the Berezovskoe gorodishche (Berezov fortified settlement) regional cultural heritage site of the 16th century mid-20th century were done for obtaining more information about the cultural layer, clarifying the boundaries of the Berezov town in the late 16th-17th centuries, and reconstructing ancient terrain by the beginning of town construction, and involved making exploration pits, drilling, and examining natural outcrops. Eleven exploration pits and 24 boreholes were made. Cultural layer of various periods from the 16th to the 19th centuries was discovered in ten pits and nine boreholes. The remains of town fortifications were found in the area where the northeastern “Round” tower of the fortress was supposed to have been located. In the southern part of the site, some traces of the posad fortifications (the southeastern wall) were identified. A cultural layer with remains of buildings presumably from the 18th-19th centuries was discovered outside the southern and western boundaries of the Berezov town. Archaeological works clarified the location of Berezov churches the Church of the Resurrection (Voskresenskaya) and Church of the Theotokos Hodegetria. The archaeological collection consisted of 21 finds, including fragments of Russian pottery of the 17th 19th centuries, and iron and bone items. It was established that thickness of the cultural layer within the boundaries of the cultural heritage site differed. The thickest cultural layer has been preserved in the area associated with the posad which began to be built up in the early 17th century. Thickness of the cultural layer gradually decreased towards the boundary ofthe cultural heritage site, which can be explained by shorter accumulation time of cultural deposits on the periphery. Modeling of the original terrain and bank area has shown that the area where the fortress was located in the beginning of construction of the Berezov town, was higher than the area of the posad. The bank in the fortress area has significantly shifted to the west from where the Northern Sosva Riverflowed and acquired a more concave shape.