City Archaeology

Categories / Architecture/Architectural Monuments
CITY ARCHAEOLOGY. A branch of archaeological research, developed in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) from the middle of the 20th century. Archaeological research in the city started with archaeological excavations conducted in 1952 by archaeologist A.D. Grach near the building of the Kunstkammer. In the 1960-80s, excavations were performed in the Summer Garden (V.A. Korentsvit), the St. Peter and Paul Fortress (G.S. Lebedev, K.M. Plotkin), near the St. Sampson Cathedral (V.S. Voinov, Y.M. Denisov, G.S. Lebedev), and in Peterhof and Oranienbaum. As a result, various materials characterising the everyday 18th century city living were obtained, and St. Petersburg's historical topography became better known. From the late 1980s, intense research of the St. Petersburg area as it was inhabited in the 15-17th centuries was undertaken, including the site of the Neva Battle (1240), the Swedish Nyenschantz Fortress, Spasskoe Village (the centre of Spassky Gorodensky Pogost), 17th century settlements in the Dudergof Region (see Mozhaisky), and Krasnoe Selo. The survey revealed that by the 17th century, rural settlements on the territory of St. Petersburg had a developed communications network. In 1995, the Presidium of the St. Petersburg Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Science passed a resolution to establish the Council for Historical and Archaeological Research on the St. Petersburg Territory and the Leningrad Region and in the Gulf of Finland. Today, as a rule, archaeological excavations are accompanied with restoration work, much of which is carried out at the Centre for Historic St. Petersburg (in 2002, archaeological surveys of Palace Square were carried out while it was under reconstruction).

References: Грач А. Д. Археологические раскопки в Ленинграде: К характеристике культуры и быта населения Петербурга XVIII в. Л., 1957; Археология Петербурга. СПб., 1996-1998. № 1-3; Археологическое наследие Санкт-Петербурга: [Сб. ст.]. СПб., 2003.

A. Y. Chistyakov. Denisov Yury Mikhailovich
Grach Alexander Danilovich
Korentsvit V.A.
Lebedev Gleb Sergeevich
Plotkin Konstantin Moiseevich
Voinov Vadim Serafimovich
Петропавловская крепость
Грач А. Д. Археологические раскопки в Ленинграде: К характеристике культуры и быта населения Петербурга XVIII в. Л., 1957
Археология Петербурга. СПб., 1996-1998 Kunstkammer
Kunstkammer
St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Sampson’s Cathedral
Neva Battle (1240)