<![CDATA[An archaeological team with the Institute of Archaeology at the Russian Academy of Sciences has unearthed a large cache of military supplies, including equipment and weapons. The stockpile appears to have been privately owned, possibly by one of the "hand-picked thousand" military commanders of Ivan the Terrible. The arsenal was discovered during the course of a rescue excavation being conducted by archaeologists in preparation for an upcoming highway construction project near the town of Zvenigorod in Russia. The area where the find was uncovered was also the former location of Ignatievskoe, a village dating from the sixteenth century and the place called home by a famous Boyar family - the Dobrynins. The Boyars were a combination of nobility and political leaders, one step below the princes in the Russian hierarchy of the time. To date, the remains of approximately 60 buildings from the village have been unearthed along with a huge underground storehouse lined with timber and located on the west side of the village. It was in this storehouse that researchers discovered the remains of a large, private military arsenal. Among the items discovered were sections of military style sabers, arrows, belts, camping tents, billy cans, and helmets which had been stored in boxes made of leather. Experts have said that the military significance of so many of the items and the way they were so carefully stored gives rise to the possibility that there had been a standing army of troops at the site and the warlike inventory had been intended for a military expedition of some sort. The responsibility of housing and feeding an army like this would have rested with the nobles. According to the deputy director at the Institute, Dr. Asya Engovatova, this is the first time a find of this nature has been discovered in the Moscow region, either in the bigger cities or the smaller towns and villages. Without the rescue project having been undertaken all of the findings would likely have been destroyed during construction of the Central Circular Highway. Rescue archaeology, also referred to as preventive or salvage archaeology, is typically sanctioned (if not required) by the state and carried out prior to large construction projects or other development activities which will result in the wholesale destruction of a site. They differ from traditional archaeological excavations because of the speed at which they’re performed. Rescue archaeology is common in urban areas where habitation has been overlaid several times over. The highlight of the items discovered so far at the Russian site are the spiked helmets, which were found still in their leather boxes with fabric linings and more importantly, practically rust free. They reflect the military headgear typically worn by Russian knights, spherical and adorned with silver and gold. The Kremlin Armoury Museum, the State History Museum and the Hermitage Museum all have similar helmets on display. The find has given researchers a more complete understanding of the Russian nobles who made up the elite officers corps of the Russian army at the beginning of Muscovy as a Russian state and how they prepared for military campaigns, with each nobleman having his own personal arsenal ready for battle. ]]>
Arsenal from Ivan the Terrible Era Discovered in Russia
