TOMSK, Nov 5 – RIA Tomsk. Archeologists of Tomsk State University (TSU) established the exact
location of the Ketsky Ostrog, which existed on the territory of the region in
the 16-18 centuries, but for various reasons changed deployment several times, the
press service of the university reported on Tuesday.
According to the
release with reference to the employee of the Museum of History, Archaeology
and Ethnography of Siberia Eugeniy Barsukov, the Ketsky Ostrog existed on the
territory of the modern Tomsk region from the end of the 16th to the middle of
the 18th century and was the base for further development of Siberia. It was
built by Russians who appeared in Siberia, faced with resistance of the local
population – Selkupas.
Initially, the
Ostrog was on the border of the Tomsk region and Krasnoyarsk region on the Ket
River, but due to difficult terrain, problems with farming and washing of the
riverbank it was transferred several times, Barsukov says. Until recently,
scientists only roughly imagined where the Ostrog was "moving". Its
second and third locations were found by TSU scientists with the help of maps
and testimonies of travelers and researchers.
"The artifacts
found in 2019: knife, axe, chair, Russian and foreign ceramics allowed to
establish the location of the Ostrog (at the third point – in the area of the
village Ketskoe, which ceased to exist in the second half of the 20th
century)", – the message says.
© РИА Томск. Павел Стефанский
It is added, the
employees of TSU also managed to find part of the earth shaft in this territory,
which, apparently, used to surround the walls of the Ketsky Ostrog. The
archeologists hope that these findings will allow to reconstruct the events of
the first decades of Russian presence in Siberia.
Barsukov also told
about some interesting artifacts found in the locations of the Ostrog. Thus,
scientists found both Selkupan and Russian ceramics in one cultural layer,
which may indicate either mixed marriages or joint residence of Russians and
Selkupas. Since there is little written evidence from the 17th century of the
population of the north of the Tomsk region, such findings can tell how people
developed these territories.
The study, which
scientists plan to continue, is supported by the Dmitri Mendeleev Scientific
Foundation of TSU.