The First and Second Gostiny Dig Sites in Tobolsk

Abstract

This article continues a series of papers dedicated to introducing in the scientific discourse materials ob-tained during archaeological investigations of the cultural layer of Tobolsk — the main city of Siberia during the Russian colonization. In the course of investigation of the First and Second Gostiny dig sites, laid at the walls of Gostiny Dvor, there were recorded 24 structures of residential and economic purposes, dated to the period from the 17th to the 19th centuries on the basis of planigraphic and stratigraphic analyses and finds. The residential timber structures were single-storeyed, with saddle notch type corners (“v oblo”) with tails. Beside the houses, there were root cellars. A representative collection of finds is related to the houses: animal bones; breakage of stoneware, chinaware, and glassware; fragments of terracotta, enameled, and polychrome tile, as well as objects made of bone, leather, bark, and wood, mainly dated to the 17th — beginning of the 19th century. The most common mate-rial, amounted to several thousand items, was represented by pottery shards — pots, ewers, jars, and pans, which were used for food cooking, food storage, as well as for other everyday purposes. The porcelain ware is associated with the tea ceremony and is mainly represented by fragments of saucers, and sometimes those of drinking cups, bowls, and teapots. By the provenance, two groups of the porcelain have been identified — Chi-nese and Russian, with characteristic makers marks and patterns. The collection of iron items consists of knives, bridle bits, door hinges, latches, nails, hooks, and fragments of scissors. The leather footwear is represented by one-piece leather-hide shoes, high boots, and shoes with iron heeltaps. Another category of the finds is represented by bone combs, which were ordinarily used not only by women, but also by men. The numismatic collection com-prises 36 Russian coins and a counter pfennig struck in the workshop of Johann Adam Dietzel (master 1746–1768) in Nuremberg. The copper articles are represented by five baptismal cross pendants and by a find unique for the Siberian region — a gilded panhagia of a copper alloy with a sliding finial, several liturgical inscriptions, and images, including those of the Crucifixion, the Holy Trinity of the Old Testament, and the Mother of God of the Sign. In ge-neral, the archaeological materials of the digs show that this quarter of the uptown of Tobolsk was part of the resi-dential and commercial housing of the town, while its residents had a relatively high level of material wellbeing.