Photos from the excavations of ancient cemeteries. The terrible truth about Riga cemeteries: they dig up graves and steal body parts

There is something mystical about death. And where people find their last resting place, there is always a special, slightly creepy atmosphere. It excites the imagination, frightens and attracts at the same time. So there are superstitions, legends, ridiculous rumors creep. Here are collected the most interesting and unusual of them.

Graves of witches and sorcerers

If during life there was a bad rumor about a person, he was buried in a special way. The body could be burned, nailed to the ground, tied with straps, cut, cut the tendons, “sealed” with silver. Many peoples believed that a witch should be buried without a coffin, face down. Graves were often placed outside the fences of cemeteries, in forests, at crossroads. Stones were thrown from above, thorny bushes were planted.

If this is not done, the dead man will be able to get out. There is a belief that holes and cracks appear on the graves of witches and sorcerers over time, through which they come to the surface. A large number of ants, bleeding grass, and strange sounds from underground also point to the place where the witch is buried. Without knowing these signs, it will be difficult to find it. But there are also well-known facts:

This cemetery is located in Salem, Massachusetts. Well, I think a lot of people have heard of the famous 1692 Salem witch trials. Then about 200 people were arrested on charges of witchcraft. Some were executed immediately (hanged or crushed with stones), others died in prison.

True, in 1702 the authorities officially recognized the process as illegal, in 1957 all sentences were canceled, and in 1992 the cemetery became a memorial to the victims. By the way, in fact, those convicted of witchcraft were not buried there. There are no witch graves in Salem. But the legend attracts tourists there.

And in the forests of Michigan rests a witch who, according to legend, destroyed an entire city. If in 1874 there were about 1500 inhabitants in Pere Cheney, then by the beginning of the 20th century there were 25 of them left. Two epidemics of diphtheria wiped out most of the population, the rest left. And the disease, of course, was sent by a local witch.

She is said to have given birth to an illegitimate child and was banished. The baby died, and then the woman cursed the city. In the end, the witch was caught, hanged, and the body was buried. Dark figures and ghostly lights still appear in that forest, the laughter of children can be heard. But get real photos of ghosts so far failed.

Graves of vampires and ghouls

Almost all peoples have legends about the dead who drink living blood. Usually such a fate awaited suicides, sorcerers excommunicated from the church ... yes, many others. And, of course, those who were bitten by a vampire. Naturally, people were afraid of these creatures and took measures so that the deceased would not leave his grave after death. And for this it is important to properly bury someone who can become a vampire.

The body should be burned or at least pierced with an aspen stake and laid so that it is oriented from east to west. It is desirable to separate the head and place it between the feet. So that the corpse could not eat its shroud, it is necessary to slip something under the chin (stone, iron). You can also pour sawdust or grains into the coffin so that the vampire begins to count them and does not have time to get out before dawn. Here are the most famous burials:

In the north part of London there is an old Highgate cemetery. It has attracted attention for a long time. There are frequent reports of vampires, and suspicious graves are marked with a V. Visitors find dug up and decapitated corpses, empty coffins. Several bodies were exhumed, and they looked strange.

Plump, plump… not quite dead… There are real photos of vampires they look exactly like this. But everything is easier to explain. The corpse always swells, this is one of the stages of decomposition. There is blood on the lips. If you pierce the body with a stake, it can make a groan, as the accumulated gases will pass by the vocal cords.

The Père Lachaise cemetery in France is also considered a haven for vampires. It all started in 1848 when some lunatic dug up some graves, pulled out the bodies and badly damaged them. He felt that he should do so. Since then, rumors have spread. However, appearance some gravestones are suggestive.

The symbolism of the burials looks ominous. Skulls and bats, which are considered the visual embodiment of vampires, fatalistic inscriptions ... However, in the 19th century Western Europe it was accepted. According to another version of the image bat with outstretched wings served as protection from evil.

Wandering graves and restless crypts

There is a belief that the earth does not accept the ashes of a person if they have not been properly buried. Creepy stories about moving graves have flooded the Internet. In general, this phenomenon has been known for a long time, but the evidence is bad. Everyone rewrites the same texts, where non-existent cities and people are mentioned. None real photo and there are no documents.

Normal explanations too. Perhaps there are forces and energies at work here that we do not yet know anything about. Like when it exploded Chelyabinsk meteorite, strange things also happened… negative pressure and many other things… But in the case of the graves, it was something else. If they moved at all. Here are a couple of more or less plausible stories:

This event happened even before the revolution in a remote Russian village. At night, a mound of earth with a half-rotted cross appeared in one of the huts. They tried to remove the grave, but it turned out that there was also a lot of earth under the floor. When it was carried out, human remains were found there.

The cross looked like those that were installed in an abandoned cemetery near the village. How all this ended up in the hut, no one understood. The grave was taken out, the bones were reburied. But the house had to be abandoned. Since then, people have avoided the terrible place.

The Chase family crypt is located in Barbados. It is carved into the rock and covered with a marble slab. Every time it was opened, the coffins that were there turned out to be turned on their side, standing upright, scattered ... They seemed to be spreading around the room. This was repeated from 1812 to 1820.

Various versions have been put forward, from Voodoo magic and Masonic rites to floods and shifts in the earth's crust. Researcher Eric Russell in the middle of the 20th century identified a number of patterns in these phenomena. He believed that metal coffins are moved by water under the influence of gravity and a magnetic field.

So what is it? True or just gossip? I don't know.. But here the materials are collected all over the Internet, I didn't even manage to identify the primary sources. And the dead cannot confirm or deny the rumors about them. In anticipation of better times, they will keep their ancient secrets.

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6.3. Destruction of old Russian cemeteries (excavations of 1999–2000 in the Luzhetsky Monastery of Mozhaisk)

In the city of Mozhaisk near Moscow, there is one of the ancient Russian monasteries - the Bogoroditse-Rozhdestvensky Luzh?tsky Monastery. It is believed that it "was founded by St. Ferapont in 1408 at the request of Andrei Dmitrievich Mozhaisky - the son of Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy", p. 100. The monastery still exists, although in a rebuilt form, fig. 6.43.

Rice. 6.43. Luzhetsky Mother of God Nativity Monastery in Mozhaisk. View from the north side. Photo from 2000.

In 1999-2000, in the course of archaeological and restoration work, builders removed two-meter layers of earth throughout the entire space of the Luzhetsky Monastery. On fig. 6.44 we give a photograph of 2000, taken in the Luzhetsky monastery after the removal of the upper layers of the earth. The thickness of the removed layers is clearly marked by a dark shaded stripe running along the bottom of the monastery cathedral. The fact is that when the lower part of the cathedral, which was underground, was in sight, it was painted over with dark paint. After these excavations, a layer of the second half of the 17th century was exposed on the surface of the monastery courtyard. This revealed a striking picture, which we will discuss in this section. We are deeply grateful to Yu.P. Streltsov, who drew our attention to the facts that will be discussed here.

Rice. 6.44. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Monastery courtyard, where in 1999 a layer of earth about two meters thick was removed. The former ground level is clearly visible from the dark stripe running along the bottom of the monastery cathedral. It can also be seen that the windows of the cathedral were raised, except for one, which, before the excavations, started from the ground itself. In the foreground are tombstones from the 17th-19th centuries dug out of the ground during excavations and neatly placed in rows. Now, on the surface of the monastery courtyard, the ground level of the 17th century is exposed. Photo from 2000.

It turned out that in the second half of the 17th century, rapid construction took place in the Luzhetsky Monastery. At the same time, old tombstones from Russian cemeteries were immured into the foundations of buildings erected in the 17th century. There were so many tombstones put on the building stone that one gets the impression that the surrounding cemeteries were at some point almost completely cleared of tombstones. At the same time, hidden today from view in the foundations, these old tombstones, as a rule, do not at all resemble those that are given to us today as supposedly “an old Russian model”. Almost all the ancient tombstones excavated in the Luzhetsky Monastery are covered with the same carvings as the tombstones of the Staro-Simonov Monastery: they depict a three-pointed forked cross, fig. 6.45.

Rice. 6.45. One of the old Russian tombstones recovered from the foundations of the 17th century during excavations in 1999-2000 in the Luzhetsky Monastery. It was used as a building stone in the era of the first Romanovs. Photo from 2000.

After removing the top layer of the earth, the foundation of a small church built in the 17th century was opened near the northern wall of the main monastery Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, fig. 6.46, 6.47. You can even more accurately indicate the time of its construction - after 1669. The fact is that the builders laid in the foundation not only the old tombstones of the 16th - early 17th centuries, but - in some cases - quite recent, "fresh" ones. There are few such slabs in the foundation, but they exist. In the summer of 2000, we saw two such slabs. One is dated 7159, that is, in terms of modern chronology, 1651 AD. e., - and the second is dated 7177, that is, 1669 AD. e., fig. 6.48 and fig. 6.49. Consequently, the foundation was laid after 1669, since the slab of 1669 had already been walled up in it.

Rice. 6.46. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Unearthed in 1999, the foundation of a ruined 17th-century church, in which old Russian tombstones are used as building stone. According to the inscriptions on the tombstones immured here, these are the remains of the construction of 1669 or later. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.47. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Uncovered in 1999, a 17th-century church base built largely from old tombstones. Photo from 2001.

Rice. 6.48. Tombstone of the 17th century, immured in the foundation of the ruined church of the Luzhetsky Monastery. The foundation was discovered during excavations in 1999. The inscription on the plate: “In the summer of 7159 January, on the 5th day, the servant of God Tatiyana Danilovna reposed in the monastery, schemataist Taiseya.” The date 7159 means 1651 CE. e. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.49. Tombstone of the 17th century, immured in the foundation of the ruined church of the Luzhetsky Monastery. The foundation was discovered during excavations in 1999. The inscription on the slab: “Summer 7177 December on the 7th day, the servant of God, the monk monk Savatei [F]edorov son of Poznyakov, reposed.” The date 7177 means 1669 CE. e. Photo from 2000.

The general picture that opened before my eyes after the excavations of 1999 in the Luzhetsky Monastery is as follows. It appears that in the 17th century en masse old tombstones from cemeteries were removed and put on building stone. In particular, in the mentioned foundation of a small church of the 17th century, SEVERAL DOZENS OF OLD TOMBSTONES were used as building blocks. Many of them were at the same time split or beaten off the edge in order to fit them under neighboring stones, fig. 6.50-6.56. Numerous fragments of old tombstones fell out of the masonry during excavations. Today, some of them have been cleared of earth and neatly stacked in the monastery courtyard, fig. 6.57, 6.58.

Rice. 6.50. An old Russian tombstone used as a building stone in the foundation of a 17th-century church in the Luzhetsky Monastery in Mozhaisk. The foundation was exposed after excavations in 1999. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.51. White-stone tombstones with a three-pointed cross. Laid in the foundation of the church of the XVII century. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.52. White-stone tombstones with a three-pointed cross. Used as a building stone in the foundation of a 17th century church. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.53. White-stone tombstone with a three-pointed cross. Immured in the foundation of the church of the XVII century. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.54. A white-stone tombstone with a three-pointed cross is like a building stone in the foundation of a 17th-century church. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.55. White-stone tombstones with a three-pointed cross, embedded in the foundation of the church of the 17th century. On the end of one of them is visible the inscription: "Summer 7191 February at 7". Date 7191 in terms of our chronology gives 1683. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.56. Fragment of a tombstone with a three-pointed cross, unusual big size. The preserved central part of the cross is visible. In addition, on the end of the slab, the remains of a characteristic pattern are visible, often present on other old Russian tombstones. From the masonry of the 17th century church in the Luzhetsky Monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.57. Ancient Russian tombstones, taken from the masonry of the 17th century, are exhibited today in the Luzhetsky Monastery of Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.58. Fragments of ancient Russian tombstones, taken from the masonry of the 17th century and exhibited in the Luzhetsky Monastery of Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

The vast majority of these old tombstones depict a three-pointed forked cross. But there are exceptions. So, for example, on one of the pieces found in the Luzhetsky Monastery, a four-pointed cross is carved. But not the one we are used to today, but a forked, reminiscent of a bird's track, rice. 6.59.

Rice. 6.59. The four-pointed cross on an old Russian tombstone looks like a bird's footprint and resembles a three-pointed forked cross with an additional branch on top. It is very different from the four-pointed cross habitual today on Christian tombstones. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Another rare example of a cross on Russian tombstones is the FIVE-POINT FORKED CROSS. A slab with such a cross was found by Yu.P. Streltsov and one of the authors - G.V. Nosovsky, in the summer of 2000, in the laying of the base of the stone steps that once led to the door of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin from the western side. Today, the steps have been destroyed and a modern iron staircase stands in their place. However, part of the base under the steps has been preserved. There, under the iron staircase, this rare old tombstone was found, fig. 6.60.

Rice. 6.60. An old Russian tombstone with a five-pointed forked cross, taken from the masonry of the 17th century. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

IN THE MONASTERY CATHEDRAL OF THE NATIVITY OF THE MOTHER OF GOD ALL THE FRESCOES HAVE BEEN KNOWN. This picture is already familiar to us from the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin, see above. Pre-Romanov frescoes were also knocked down there, which, by the way, were not at all old by the time they were destroyed. They were less than a hundred years old. Apparently, something similar happened in the Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Mountains of small pieces of knocked down plaster covered with bright colors ancient frescoes were dumped right in the monastery courtyard. They were exposed after excavations in 1999. We saw them there in the summer of 2000, fig. 6.61. Apparently, the ancient frescoes of Russian cathedrals were not at all what they should have been, according to Romanov historians. They interfered with the version of Russian history being introduced by the Romanovs. Therefore, they were destroyed. First in the Moscow Kremlin, and then throughout Russia.

Rice. 6.61. This is all that remains of the ancient frescoes of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the Luzhetsky Monastery. The frescoes were knocked down together with the plaster in the epoch of the 18th-19th centuries and piled up against the southern wall of the monastery, not far from the gate. Piles of pieces of plaster were found here after excavations in 1999. Photo from 2000.

The destruction of frescoes on the walls of ancient Russian churches and cathedrals is a typical picture. Sometimes historians manage to attribute this to the “bad Polish-Lithuanian interventionists” during the Great Troubles. Which, judging by the history books, were seized with an inexplicable passion to destroy monasteries with libraries, ancient paintings and everything that could bring us information about the old Russian life. Sometimes we are told that, they say, "this ancient cathedral was never painted." Allegedly, there was enough money to build a huge building - but not to paint. I just had to whitewash the walls. But in some cases, as, for example, in the Luzhetsky monastery of Mozhaisk, they still admit that the ancient frescoes were destroyed by the Romanov authorities themselves. For what? No plausible explanation is given. From the point of view of our reconstruction, everything is clear.

Let's return to the Russian old-style tombstones found in the Luzhetsky Monastery. Of course, the inscriptions on them are of particular interest. Especially if there was an inscription relating to pre-Romanov times. Unfortunately, it turned out that there are no inscriptions or no inscriptions on the slabs at all - as can be seen, for example, in fig. 6.45, - or there are inscriptions allegedly of the 16th century, but they are most likely fake. Or the inscriptions are genuine, but already belong to the era of the Romanovs. We will say more about this below. For now, we will only repeat that we have not been able to find a single authentic inscription of the pre-Romanov era on these stones. Apparently, all the old tombstones with inscriptions were simply destroyed or the inscriptions were completely cleaned. But even the mute stones remaining after such a cleansing, apparently, nevertheless interfered with Romanov historians with their “wrong” appearance. They were not left to lie peacefully in cemeteries, but were laid in foundations, away from the eyes. After the reform of religious customs, tombstones of a new Romanov style began to be installed in Russian cemeteries, completely different from the previous ones. Then they pretended that "it has always been like this."

But the Romanovs, as we will see below, did not come to such a radical decision immediately. At first, they probably tried to remake the inscriptions, at least on some of the old slabs. Work has begun. Slabs with pre-Romanov inscriptions were either destroyed or the inscriptions were removed from them. Then, in their place, or on slabs without inscriptions, new texts dated to the pre-Romanov era were applied. As we will see on the example of the Luzhetsky Monastery, this was done so casually that it immediately catches the eye. Apparently, officials of the 17th century, who checked the quality of "work to correct history" in Russian cemeteries, were dissatisfied when they saw the resulting result. And then, probably, they decided to simply remove all the old slabs from the cemeteries. And in the future to make tombstones of a new sample. Perhaps, in particular, with the aim of making it easier to find and destroy the remains of pre-Romanov tombstones with “wrong” inscriptions or symbols.

So, let's turn to the tombstones. All the inscriptions that we saw on the old tombstones in the Luzhetsky Monastery begin with the words "In the summer such and such ... buried." Thus, the date is always at the beginning. On the ancient slabs we discovered in the Luzhetsky Monastery, the earliest dates seem to point to the 16th century, that is, to the pre-Romanov era. We also found other slabs of EXACTLY THE SAME PATTERN with dates from the 17th century, already from the time of the Romanovs. Of course, there is nothing surprising in this. As we have already said, burial customs - including the type of tombstones - were changed by the Romanovs only in the second half of the 17th century. Therefore, for several decades at the beginning of the Romanov era in Rus', an old sample of tombstones was still used. It should be noted that the technique and quality of the stone pattern - the forked cross and the bordering strip - on the "Romanov" and "pre-Romanov" slabs are COMPLETELY THE SAME. Carvers of the 17th century did not differ in the level of their skill from the carvers of the 16th century. It is clearly seen that neither the methods nor the style of their work underwent any qualitative changes in that era.

But here's what's amazing. ON THE PLATES WHERE THE DATES OF THE ROMANOV AGE ARE SHOWN, ALL THE SIGNS ARE MADE AS QUALITY AS THE PATTERN. The letters and pattern are carved into the stone deeply and beautifully by a professional carver, fig. 6.62-6.64. The master followed the play of the shadow on the letters, achieved a combination of lines of various thicknesses, which made them beautiful, as if written out “with pressure”. The same techniques were used in the details of the fringing pattern and the forked cross.

Rice. 6.62. A transitional tombstone with an old type pattern, however, without the forked cross. Made in the era of the first Romanovs. Contains two tombstone inscriptions with dates: “on the summer of August 7149, on 6 [de]n[b] repose[i] ra[b] of God m[lade]n[e]ts Andre[y] Pavlov s[s]n Fedorovich Klementyev "in the left column and" in the summer of February 7151 [i] in 5 [de]n[b] repose[i] ra[b] God's m[lade]n[e]ts Pyotr Pavlov s[s]n Fedorovich Klementyev ' in the right column. Translated into modern chronology, these are 1641 and 1643. The letters of the inscription are made by a professional carver, as well as the pattern bordering the slab. The inscription on this plate is genuine. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.63. Old-style tombstone with a forked cross, made in the era of the first Romanovs. Inscription: “in the summer of 7142 month of July on 10 [day] the servant of God U ... Avlov ... Rovich Kle ... ... ..." reposed. We marked the lost or illegible letters with dots. Translated into modern chronology, this is 1634. The letters of the inscription are made with the same quality as the border pattern. The inscription is genuine. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.64. Old-style tombstone with a forked cross, made in the era of the first Romanovs, in 1631. It was found in a split form during excavations in 1999-2000 under the bell tower of the Luzhetsky Monastery. Collected from pieces and placed in a newly equipped chapel under the bell tower. The inscription on it reads: “in the summer of 7139 (= 1631 A.D.) June 15 d[e]n[b] as a memento from [vya] tago ... y Maksimovich Vaneika and in the foreign shop Arkady sh[i] mnik the tonsurer of this monastery." The inscription is most likely authentic. Photo from 2000.

In addition, the inscriptions of the ROMANOV AGE ALWAYS OCCUR THE WHOLE PLACE ALLOWED TO THEM BETWEEN THE BORDER AND THE CROSS. Let us explain that the tombstone inscription was made on a free field between the bordering strip of the pattern and the two upper branches of the forked cross. On different tombstones, the size of the field was made different. This was achieved both by bending the branches of the cross, and by placing the center of the cross on the tombstone. It is quite obvious that the master who made the gravestone, in each case, knew in advance how long the inscription he was going to place here. Therefore, he left an appropriate place for her.

But on the plates, equipped with supposedly pre-Romanov dates, the inscriptions look completely different. THE QUALITY OF THEIR PERFORMANCE IS MUCH WORSE THAN THE QUALITY OF THE PATTERN APPLIED ON THE SAME PLATE. At best, such an inscription is more or less exactly scratched on the stone with some pointed object, fig. 6.65, 6.66. Some of these inscriptions are provided with rulers, between which letters are inscribed, fig. 6.67. Which gives the lettering a clumsy, student-like look. However, the border pattern is still clear and professional! Some inscriptions allegedly of the 16th century, among other things, clearly do not correspond to the field left for them. They are too short for him. See, for example, fig. 6.68, where the inscription is clearly dated 7076, i.e. 1568 AD. e. See also fig. 6.69, 6.70. We also came across a very frank case of alteration of the inscription: THE PATTERN ON THE PLATE IS PERFECTLY PERFORMED, AND THE INscription IS SCRATCHED AT ANYWHERE, as if with a simple nail, fig. 6.71, 6.72. This probably false inscription is dated Zpi, i.e. 7088 AD or 1580 CE. e. It seems that in the 17th century they took an old tombstone and put on it a fake inscription dating from the 16th century, supposedly pre-Romanov times.

Rice. 6.65. Apparently a fake inscription on an old tombstone. The plate itself and the pattern on it are made by a professional stone carver. The inscription is simply scratched by some sharp object. To make such an inscription, you do not need to be a master carver. It can be done by anyone, with the help of an ordinary nail. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.66. Apparently a fake inscription on an old tombstone. The pattern was carefully made by a master carver, and the inscription was roughly scratched with almost a simple nail. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.67. The inscription on the tombstone with a forked cross. The inscription is most likely fake. At the top right, the date allegedly of the 16th century is scratched: “Zn ...” or “Zp ...”, that is, the 7050s or 7080s. Recall that in order to bring old Russian dates to the modern chronology, 5508 must be subtracted, which in this case gives the middle or end of the 16th century. Roughly scratched rulers are clearly visible, between which letters fit. Despite the rulers, the letters turned out to be clumsy anyway. The pattern on the plate looks older than the inscription, almost erased from time to time. But it, unlike the inscription, is made professionally. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.68. An alleged 16th-century inscription on an old tombstone with a forked cross. The inscription is made unprofessionally and obviously does not correspond in length to the space allotted to it. The date is read unambiguously: “October 7076 [b]ra 1 d[e]n[b] reposed Orina Grigorieva.” Thus, the inscription is allegedly dated to 1568 (7076–5508 = 1568). It's most likely a fake. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.69. An inscription allegedly from pre-Romanov times on an old tombstone with a forked cross. The inscription is extremely rude, unprofessional and does not correspond to the size of the space allotted to it. The date is almost erased, but its second half still reads: "..16". Thus, either 7016 or 7116 was written, which gives either 1508 or 1608, that is, the pre-Roman era. The entire inscription consists of 4–5 words and occupies only a small part of the free field. At the same time, the border pattern and the forked cross are carved beautifully and meticulously. Most likely, the inscription is fake. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.70. Fragment of the previous drawing with an inscription. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.71. An inscription allegedly from the 16th century on an old slab. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

Rice. 6.72. An enlarged image of an alleged 16th-century inscription on an old tombstone. Against the background of a beautifully executed pattern, we see a gravestone inscription scratched at random, as if by a child: ] m [learn] ka ... repose the servant of G[o] zhia ... mia. The date 7088 means 1580 CE. e. Most likely, this is an example of outright negligence committed in the manufacture of fake tombstone inscriptions allegedly of the 16th century. Luzhetsky monastery in Mozhaisk. Photo from 2000.

In general, the following strange picture is revealed.

a) On tombstones with dates from the Romanov era, the inscriptions are made with the same quality as the crosses and surrounding patterns.

b) And on the tombstones, allegedly provided with pre-Romanov dates, the pattern and the cross are made extremely carefully, but the inscriptions are very rude. The amazing contrast between the beautiful pattern and the primitive inscription immediately catches the eye.

In the carving of "pre-Romanov" letters, there are neither flat edges - traces of a cutter, nor lines of different thicknesses. In other words, no professional stone carving techniques were used in the manufacture of these inscriptions. Anyone can make such an inscription with an ordinary nail. Some of these inscriptions are not finished, they are thrown in the middle, fig. 6.68-6.70. But in their content they do not differ from the inscriptions of the Romanov period. The text follows the same pattern.

They can say that in the 16th century the masters had not yet learned how to beautifully cut the text on the stone. No, such an "explanation" cannot be accepted. After all, a complex pattern and a cross on the tombstones were carved flawlessly!

It may be stubbornly objected that in the 16th century it was allegedly customary to use old tombstones "for the second time." They took, they say, a beautiful slab from the old grave, knocked down the old inscription from it, applied a new one and set it up on a fresh grave. For some reason, this custom disappeared in the 17th century. However, this "explanation" is also unconvincing. Consider the fact that we have discovered. ALL slabs in the Luzhetsky Monastery, allegedly dating from the 16th century, have a ROUGH INscription AND A BEAUTIFUL PATTERN. And ALL plates of the XVII century have a BEAUTIFUL INscription AND A BEAUTIFUL PATTERN. It turns out that not a single real plate of the 16th century with a beautiful pattern and a beautiful inscription has come down to us. Allegedly, only the plates "used a second time" survived. Which would be very strange. It is clear that at least part of the plates of the XVI century still had to be preserved in its original form. We did not find any such slab of the 16th century with an undestroyed inscription in the Luzhetsky Monastery. And in other places too.

Most likely, the reason for the noted discrepancy between the beautiful pattern and the primitive inscriptions of the supposedly 16th century on old Russian tombstones lies elsewhere. Apparently, in the second half of the 17th century, all the inscriptions on the pre-Romanov tombstones were simply destroyed. But so that it was not too obvious, they made a certain number of remakes. Some of the old slabs were carelessly covered with new inscriptions with false dates allegedly from the pre-Romanov era. New inscriptions were made according to the model that was adopted in the era of the Romanovs. The purpose of the falsification was to “prove” that no change in funeral customs had taken place in Rus', that tombstone inscriptions in Russian cemeteries before the Romanovs were in general the same as under the Romanovs. Approximately the same content, the letters used, the language, etc. In fact, apparently, much was not so.

Fake inscriptions allegedly of the 17th century were made extremely carelessly by the falsifiers of the 17th century. And this is understandable. If the inscription is made on a real tombstone, then the relatives of the deceased, who pay for the work of the carver, carefully monitor the quality. But if the inscription was made not for a specific deceased, but by order from distant Moscow or St. Petersburg, then the main thing was to depict the “correct” text. High Quality nobody demanded. For simplicity, they took the old, pre-Romanov stove. A beautiful pattern and a forked cross were already carefully made on it. The executors of the order destroyed the old inscription and hastily entered the required text. It is unlikely that they were good masters of stone carving. Apparently, having given the order to make false inscriptions, the authorities were stingy to allocate money for hiring professional carvers.

Then a new order was received - in general, all tombstones should be removed from the cemeteries. From now on, to make tombstones only according to a new model, and to pretend that "it has always been like that." And the existing tombstones - both with genuine inscriptions of the Romanov era, and with fake "pre-Romanov" ones - should be put on building stone. That will be more reliable. Now certainly not a single old original will escape destruction.

Today, after excavations in the Luzhetsky Monastery, this amazing picture of the distortion of old Russian history and desecration of the graves of their ancestors comes out.

There is a series of exclusively interesting questions. What was written on the original Russian tombstones of the pre-Romanov era? In what language were the inscriptions - in Church Slavonic, Arabic, Turkic? Or, perhaps, in some other, perhaps already forgotten, languages? It is appropriate to recall here that on Russian weapons, for example, in the 16th and even in the 17th century they wrote mainly in Arabic, see. , , . Maybe on Russian graves - too? It is possible that before the Romanovs Arabic, along with Church Slavonic and Greek, was one of the sacred languages ​​of the Russian Church.

All these questions require the most careful research. Without their solution, it is difficult to understand what was the true picture of Russian life before the Romanov era. Here opens a wide field of activity for domestic archaeologists.

In May 2001, we once again went to the Luzhetsky Monastery. It's been about a year since our first visit. And what did we see? It turns out that the excavated foundation of the old church, which is described above, has changed its appearance. Parts of some ancient slabs of the 16th-17th centuries, protruding from the foundation, are now chipped. Others are filled with cement. As a result, the remains of ancient patterns and inscriptions are partially lost. We think it would be better to conserve them as a valuable historical monument. Bring schoolchildren and tourists here. After all, these are genuine traces of ancient Russian history. They are quite unexpected, they do not fit well into the memorized version of history. Fragments of some slabs exhibited in the Luzhetsky Monastery aside from the mentioned foundation have survived so far. Although not all. We did not see some of the debris that lay here in 2000.

In conclusion, let us note a striking, in our opinion, striking circumstance. Once, in a conversation with a professional archaeologist, we asked him a question about old Russian tombstones with a forked cross. What do archaeologists think about such tombstones? we asked. The answer was literally the following. Yes, our interlocutor said, such tombstones are well known to archaeologists. They are dug out of the ground quite often. Their study is not of particular interest for archaeological science. BETWEEN OURSELVES, WE CALL THEM "GRAVES OF SINNERS".

It is amazing how, already at the level of initial words and concepts, a deep hostility and even disdain for the true old Russian history is instilled in archaeologists. TO ANNOUNCING MANY GENERATIONS OF OUR ANCESTORS who lived before the 17th century as sinners is blasphemy.

The incident, which last week shocked not only the Tula region, but the whole country, is acquiring new details. Here is what is known so far.

On September 7, one of the cemetery workers noticed a hand sticking out of the ground on the grave of a 46-year-old tula woman. He immediately. Subsequently, relatives of the deceased also arrived at the scene. The woman died of oncology in May of this year in Moscow, but was buried in the Tula cemetery.

When the gravediggers dug up the grave, they were horrified by what they saw.

The woman buried here four months ago was completely naked and sat on a broken coffin in a lotus position with her hands raised up.

The right hand was missing. She was never found. On the body of the deceased were only gold jewelry, in which she was buried.

It appeared that the intruder (or intruders) ravaged the grave, opened the coffin, removed the body of the deceased from it, completely undressed. Separated from the body and took with him the right hand. And then, having tied the woman's legs with a blanket from the grave, he seated her in the lotus position astride the coffin. And he buried it in such a way that the woman's hands were raised. How he did this is still unknown.

By the way, someone obviously dug into the burial before. As early as September 3, cemetery workers became aware of the destruction of the grave. At first they thought that after 4 months after the funeral, an earthen mound settled on the grave. On this day, the woman's grave was visited by her father. He put the grave in order.

Various versions of the blasphemous crime were put forward. Let's try to figure them out.

dress theft

The ugly incident, which defied any logic, immediately became public knowledge. However, the information was distorted in many media.

So, some news sites wrote that the tulyak was buried in a wedding dress. In fact, as Myslo learned, the deceased was buried in a white funeral dress (the woman, according to some sources, was not married).

Many media (including Myslo originally reported on this) wrote that from the crime scene.

However, some time later, investigative actions were again carried out at the cemetery, during which the broken coffin was removed from the grave.

In it they found all the clothes of the deceased: a funeral White dress, slippers, underwear. Nothing was stolen.

another body was placed in the grave

This version also sounded in the news. However, she was untenable from the very beginning. When they discovered the dug-up grave, a relative of the deceased identified it on the spot. It was the same woman who was buried here in May of this year.

necrophile

Rumors that the body of the deceased was abused are creeping around the city. Including this information was given by some federal media.

But as it became known to Myslo, Tula experts were looking for traces of abuse or other post-mortem injuries on the woman's body. Pathological and anatomical examination gave a negative result.

No injuries or traces of other interventions were found on the body of the deceased.

However, the story from this does not cease to be creepy: the motive for the crime is still incomprehensible. Investigators continue to find out the circumstances of the incident, but in the police under article 244 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Desecration of the bodies of the dead and their burial places."

The heads of law enforcement agencies of the region demanded from their subordinates to intensify work to solve this crime.

creepy quest

I don't want to believe it, but why not? And why be surprised: recently in Efremov, a schoolgirl in online game in the social network VKontakte. Who knows what quests now exist in the Internet space.

This version is supported by the ritual nature of the incident, the absence of a hand (it could have been taken as evidence of the completion of the “task”). Against this version is the fact that the woman was completely naked: this, according to experts, indicates something personal, intimate.

mentally ill fan

This version seems to be the most probable at the moment.

A professor of psychiatry, the most famous forensic psychiatrist in the country, shared with Myslo his opinion about the motives for a heinous crime. He believes that a mentally ill admirer, whom the woman rejected during her lifetime, could do this. The professor explains why he decided so:

Such cases are very rare. I think it's revenge. Most likely, this was done by a rejected admirer. A man who really wanted to be close to this woman, but did not achieve reciprocity from her. It can be firmly said that this man mental illness. Bound legs are perhaps an indicator of sexual pretensions. Thus, the criminal symbolically showed that no one can ever take possession of his beloved.

As Mikhail Vinogradov said, the terms for committing vandalism also “fit” into the scheme of actions of abnormal lovers: they can do this within six months from the date of the death of the object of adoration. According to the professor, in his many years of practice (and this is decades), the case of the destruction of graves and abuse of the bodies of the dead for "personal" reasons is only the fifth.

By the way, the absence of the right hand is also symbolic. The wedding ring is worn on the ring finger of this hand.

Who knows, perhaps the attacker took the brush with him as a fetish, a trophy.

But on September 11, 2017 (already after the incident), an unknown person left in the comments to her photo the entry “Don’t be sad” and a bunch of emoticons.

And to last year’s birthday greetings from a friend, he left a comment: “And don’t forget to congratulate this year.”

The account from which these fresh comments are written is strange, very similar to a fake one. But probably, law enforcement it's worth digging into it.

Polish archaeologists said that, during the construction of the road, the graves of vampires were excavated. The fact that the dead were considered evil spirits is evidenced by an unusual way of burying the bodies.

During the construction of a road near the Polish city of Gliwice, builders stumbled upon parts of the skeletons. Archaeologists invited to the site expected to see the remains of soldiers who participated in World War II, but were mistaken in their predictions

A strange picture appeared to the eyes of the researchers - the heads of the dead were cut off from the bodies and placed at the feet.

Archaeologists immediately grasped the essence of this ritual, designed to prevent the resurrection of the dead. According to experts, the practice of beheading the dead, who were considered “bloodsuckers”, was widespread in Slavic countries at the beginning of Christianity, when pagan beliefs had not yet lost their strength. People believed that separating the vampire's head from his body would prevent the undead from rising from the grave to terrorize the living.

Forensic anthropologist Matteo Borrini, who became interested in the discovery of Polish archaeologists, told reporters that there were other, no less strange ways to deal with the “bloodsuckers”.

For example, a resident of Venice, who died in the 16th century from the plague, was buried with a brick tightly inserted between her jaws. This method guaranteed the Italians that the deceased would no longer be able to feed on human blood. But in Bulgaria, the extermination of vampires was approached somewhat differently. In 2012, archaeologists found two skeletons fixed with iron bars in order to securely chain the undead to the ground.

“Tales of vampires originated from villagers who were not familiar with the process of body decomposition. They saw that sometimes blood appears from the mouth of a corpse, allegedly indicating a recent meal of a ghoul. In fact, this phenomenon is associated with rotting and bloating, as a result of which blood can exit into oral cavity, - explains the site's science columnist Benjamin Radford. - These processes are well studied by modern doctors and mortuary workers, but in medieval Europe they were considered unmistakable signs of the real existence of vampires.”

In Monchegorsk, the police detained young guy who is suspected of necrophilia. He dug up the grave and, according to preliminary data, abused the body of a recently buried woman. How mentally healthy he is remains to be established by specialists. Our correspondents - Natalia Alekseenko and Pavel Tretyakov followed in his footsteps.

10.08.2015, 20:09

In Monchegorsk, the police detained a young guy who is suspected of necrophilia. He dug up the grave and, according to preliminary data, abused the body of a recently buried woman. How mentally healthy he is remains to be established by specialists. Our correspondents - Natalia Alekseenko and Pavel Tretyakov followed in his footsteps.

On August 6, the duty unit of the Monchegorsk police department received a message that unknown persons had dug up one of the graves at the local cemetery. An investigative team immediately arrived at the scene.

The police began to collect information, find out all the details. Cemetery worker Sergei Ryabov was one of the first to discover the dug-out grave and the woman's body. She was buried just a week before the incident. Sergei says that in the five months that he has been working here, he has had to observe a lot, but damn it! The man is still shocked by the nightmare he has seen, shows a photo that, for ethical reasons, cannot be shown on the air.

“When I saw this, it was just darkness. I have never seen such a thing in my life. Some kind of necrophile, you know. This person needs to be treated. So easy to unearth, break the lid of the coffin, pull it out for him alone, put it in such a position. It doesn't fit in my head."

According to Sergei, most likely, the desecration of the grave took place at night. A bayonet shovel was lying nearby, with the help of which the burial was excavated. After the message, all police squads received orientations. A day later, on August 7, the suspect was detained in hot pursuit.

Ivan Akopov, Acting Head of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Monchegorsk: “A citizen born in 1994, not working, not previously convicted, living in the Arkhangelsk region was detained. He was convicted of this crime. Currently, he is being tested for involvement in other crimes.”

According to the suspect, he came to the Arctic from the Arkhangelsk region in mid-July to work. Lived in rented apartment, have not yet been able to get a job. He came to the cemetery in order to find food for himself. The next day after the arrest, the police arrived at the destroyed grave already with him, checked the evidence on the spot. He is not very willing to communicate with investigators. So far, he has only confessed that he really dug up the grave. For what - does not explain. As part of the investigation of the criminal case, several examinations will be carried out. Including, psychological and psychiatric, which will establish how sane a 20-year-old guy is.

Sergei Ryabov, cemetery worker: “You know, to be honest, I'll tell you, if I caught this goat here, I would break everything for him. I would have broken everything, arms, legs. Let them put me in prison, but I would break everything here for him.

So far, no one has been specifically charged. A criminal case was initiated on the fact of what happened under the article “Desecration of the bodies of the dead or destruction, damage or desecration of burial places.” According to the leadership of the local police, this is the first such case in Monchegorsk. Now the detained resident of Arkhangelsk is in a temporary detention facility. His personal data is not disclosed in the interests of the investigation.