Bone Muka

70 cubic meters ancients human The remains extracted from Earth V the course of archaeological Expelities , stored V basement Lower Novgorod And Almost 10 years Waiting for when O them will take care Church And secular power .

IN One of the city basements near the walls of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is stored by a pile of human bones. Some of them were extracted by archaeologists from the bowels of city necropolises 9 years ago, and since then, having been a material for scientific research, they could not return to the ground. “Not the worst thing that could happen to these bones. At least they didn’t get to the landfill, ”Tatyana Guseva, deputy director for the scientific work of the Archaeological Service, comments on the situation. The attention of the Nizhny Novgorod archaeologists reaches from time to time and completely scandalous information - on the export of the quietly human remains, disturbed by builders, from ancient city necropolises to garbage training grounds.

According to Guseva, from so many high -ranking persons, clothed with power, she repeatedly heard perplexed questions why these bones simply did not rake an excavator or bulldozer. That is why, having completed her work by the scientist, now she no longer sets any conditions for officials or developers, according to whose orders her service carried out archaeological surveys, does not ask to get rid of this burden. She has no doubt: if the “archaeological service” will refuse the volunteer mission to save the remains, then to be bones with the bones of the trash.

“Sometimes you think: and why are we talking about this when we have stated in the contracts that developers should organize and ensure the subsequent reburial of the remains, if any?! - Tatyana Vladimirovna admits. “But I understand well that developers will also not be able to do this without the appropriate will of officials.”

Faced with the absence of any concern by the authorities by the fate of the remains, which since 2005 began to come across archaeologists in a huge amount, since the historical part of Nizhny Novgorod has been mastered by investors very actively, Tatyana Guseva tried to find mutual understanding with the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolitan. On November 21, 2011, a letter was sent to the archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas George. We quote: “Over the past years, during the conduct of security archaeological work in the historical part of Nizhny Novgorod, sections of ancient city necropolis are found on separate sites for the construction or laying of communications within the boundaries of the excavations. In accordance with the current legislation (the Law of the Russian Federation “On Cultural Heritage Objects (Monuments of History and Culture) of the Peoples of the Russian Federation“ dated 06.25.2002 No. 73-ФЗ), burials (bone remains) are recorded and extracted from the ground according to the adopted archaeological methodology and are explored by anthropologists. After that, they can be reburied. In most historical cities of the Russian Federation, the process of reburial of the remains (anthropological materials) from the excavations of historical necropolises has been worked out and does not cause organizational difficulties. Unfortunately, in Nizhny Novgorod it has not yet been able to solve this problem. As a result, we have accumulated anthropological material in the amount of several thousand units from the excavations of necropolises ... I convincingly ask you to take part in solving this problem and petition to the authorities of the city and the region about the allocation of the land plot under the reburial of the remains of the Nizhny Novgorod ... ”

And in response - silence. The comments are short to journalists: "No comments." At the same time, right on the territory of the Transfiguration of the Nizhny Novgorod Church, as you know, the remains of ancient people are also stored, extracted during archaeological work in the late 90s. By today's standards, there are not very many of them - several hundred “units”, because in 2011 on the theatrical square of Nizhny Novgorod, several meters from the walls of the Kremlin, several layers of ancient necropolis were opened at once, and the account of the extracted remains of the ancient Nizhny Novgorod then went for thousands.

But it is better to consider cubic meters - so that representatives of the secular and church authorities could imagine how much the pit is required for the burial of the bones. And then more than once the proposals sounded to rest them at the base of some other remote chapel. Only after all, burials in such volumes are still required to be foreseen when designing. Apparently, no one is in a hurry to provide.

Last summer, one of the deputies of the Legislative Assembly Andrei Tarasov enthusiastically undertook to solve this problem, announcing the advisability of creating a historical memorial: he gathered a meeting on this topic, and gave the orders to hold another meeting on September 1 of this year, but ... now he was approaching, and the regional budget for 2013, in which Mr. Tarasov suggested To provide expenses for the memorial is accepted in the first reading, but there is still no news. And the response to the request of the journalist too. The control of the state protection of cultural heritage objects of the Nizhny Novgorod region is also silent.

“I do not understand why Nizhny Novgorod rested on this problem. After all, in order to dig a hole and the bones to be reburied, even a lot of money is not needed, ”Guseva wonders. “And this work should be the last point in security events, for the sake of which these bones were extracted from the ground.”

Irina Slavina