These people just destroy our history, says Elena Toropova, acting head of the Department of Russian history and archeology of the Institute of Humanities of Novgorod state University named after Yaroslav the Wise.
that unknown looted mounds, Novgorod archaeologists have learned from local historians. Destroyed ten of the 50 mounds, ancient tombs looted. It is unlikely that the diggers went gold or precious stones, untold riches in these places do not find the local population has not particularly rich. The problem, says Toropova, not so much in the findings when illegal excavations destroyed the cultural layer, namely in his analysis of archeologists learn how people lived in ancient times, with which people communicated, what is produced that sold.
Now the police of the Novgorod region began checking on the fact of plundering burial mounds. Historians also appealed to the FSB.
during the inspection, the police communicate with fishermen, hunters, gathering evidence, did not see whether the campers in the woods any suspicious persons. In parallel, check the sites ads, it is there for peanuts put up for sale of antiquities from looted sites.
Bronze fibula, X-XI century, price – 500 rubles, bell XI-XIII centuries – 500 rubles, a bronze bracelet of Kievan Rus – for two thousand rubles, scales (the so-called small coins began to be minted in the fourteenth century) sold by the ads from 200 rubles apiece.
Many items hanging on the ads for months. Supply in the segment of antiquities exceeds demand.
Asya Engovatova, Deputy Director of the Institute of archaeology RAS for science, explains this by the fact that the artifacts offered for sale grinders, raise serious questions.
Among them may be fake, possible errors in dates, – quotes the expert an example. According to ASI Engovatova, legitimate collectors of antiquities register their collection for the Ministry of culture and to buy items at the auctions when each lot has a certificate proving its authenticity and origin. Artifacts from the Bulletin Board in such legal collection is not placed.
Before the illegal Antiques market involved the police, they found sellers, found out the origin of the artifacts. Often criminal cases were initiated. Now, the relevant departments that detect crime in the antique market, was abolished. Periodically, criminal proceedings are instituted by the FSB. But it is the Agency responsible for the resonant case, when it comes to substantial material values. The sale of artifacts from the abandoned village often charge to investigate the local police, who have neither the time nor the capacity to fully deal with such matters.
The sad part is, th��Orit Asya Engovatova – that many diggers don’t even know what damage the historical science they are applied.
“Here it is, my dear, Cheswick, on the other side the Prince some, the scales do not understand” is a fragment of the video blog “the Golden fleece” about illegal excavations in one of the Novgorod tracts. The blogger with the alias of the Golden fleece, twenty minutes of the movie managed to extract from the earth, not only of Novgorod coins of the XV century, but the shells of the great Patriotic war, pieces of pottery, buttons of the XIX century, coins of the XVIII century. All the finds that kladoiskatelskih on the slang swag, blogger took home, leaving a dig site.
About each of the regions of the North-West, you can find dozens of similar videos. The scenario is always the same: cheerful guys with metal detectors on the meadow or in the woods, and as soon as the device starts it is characteristic cheep, take up the shovel, and then demonstrate the findings.
They called their departures a COP. In cities such cops, they are not satisfied, we go on deaf ground. Moreover, if excavations begin, the illegals stop going, apparently afraid of the meetings with the archaeologists and the police, – said the head of Kemerovo Novgorod detachment of the expedition, Natalia sarafanova.
archaeologists have Repeatedly tried to move the diggers on the bright side. Now to take part in the excavations can be anyone, an archaeological expedition recruit volunteers and workers. However, to carry on the memory artifact from the excavation for the present excavation is impossible. It is also impossible to wield a shovel as they like, all work is carried out in accordance with the method, when the earth is removed in thin layers.
But in the place of those who persuaded the archaeologists, come to new diggers.
By the way, most of these figures are very offended if you call them “black”. Moreover, many take offense to the word “diggers”. Themselves those conducting illegal excavations, often referred to as lovers of the instrument search. Youtube channels are the most active ones have hundreds of thousands of followers, bloggers classes and will certainly advertise metal detectors. Sales of such off the scale. For example, only on the message boards at this point in the Novgorod region individuals put up for sale 51 of the detector. In the Pskov region 92 sell such a device. In St. Petersburg on the popular classifieds site for sale more than three thousand metal detectors, the prices are from five to 50 thousand rubles. Metal detectors are often needed in road construction, in exploration, but in everyday life the metal detector – thing is useless, unless you ride on the tracts in search of treasures.
Selling metal detectors and various devices to them is one of the pillars on which keepscamping treasure hunting, without this device you cannot search. Another way to earn is to teach beginners for money within the treasure hunters tours.
On the website of one of the companies that sells such tours, it is emphasized that there is nothing illegal in these trips, I worked on the territory of the archaeological monuments, the excavations are not conducted, in other people’s gardens treasure hunters not to look. Dig only abandoned villages, unused road.
However, says Elena Toropova, it is also a violation of article 243.2 of the criminal code, which prescribes liability for the illegal search and (or) removal of archaeological objects from the place of occurrence. No matter shall be the territory of archaeological monument or not – it is a violation of the law.
“Black diggers” not only break the monuments of antiquity. Illegal excavations are taking place in the battlefields of the great Patriotic war. In the Pskov region, the Novgorod region, the Leningrad region and lovers of the instrument search is extracted from the ground helmets, nametags, flasks, clothes and sell it all on the same electronic boards. Soviet helmets are on sale for 2000 rubles, the flask can be found for 500.
– the “Black diggers” don’t have the goal to find the remains. They are interested in the search of ammunition. But where is the ammunition there and the remains of dead soldiers – said the official representative of the search expedition “the Valley” Igor Svintsov.
Every year, the search party, “the Valley” finds the remains of Soviet soldiers. Whenever possible, the volunteers of group try to identify the victims, it can be done by personal badge, some other stuff. But if the search engines on the battlefield was visited by “black diggers”, there are no items to find are often not possible. The chances that the victim will be identified and his family will learn of his fate, tend to zero.
Svintsov says that often, the robbery of the fallen soldiers takes place out of ignorance. Diggers just do not understand that before them the remains of a man, and, for example, the rhizomes of dry wood.
Often the diggers coming out of the ground grenades, knives, bullets. When trying to sell such an Arsenal over the Internet interfering with law enforcement. So, a month ago in the Kaliningrad region detained “black diggers”, which was found on the ground fighting weapons and repaired it, turning in the current. In may the FSB of the Kaliningrad region detained in the forests of the region 29 black diggers, who were disguised as volunteers search groups. According to investigators, all of them were interested in the weapons.
of the Respondents “RG” experts agree that the cause of the proliferation of illicit excavations is not in the legislation, all the necessary items written there, and in law enforcement and in General against General��tva to hunters. Who as a child dreamed of finding treasure or go on a real expedition? Diggers position themselves as those who were able to fulfill a childhood dream, and nothing more. The illegals themselves are not like the negative characters from the films, on the contrary, they do not hide persons blog and in life, each has been a model employee and a family man. And what with the fact that instead of fishing it on the weekends goes behind the swag? Should the person be a hobby. Diggers, often sympathetic, and they are using it, continue to plunder the sites and earn hard coin in the sale of artifacts or on the videos of his “feats”.
