Archaeologist’s Day at BelSU: Celebrating Real Discoveries in the Field

Belgorod National Research University (BelSU) marked Archaeologist’s Day in Russia by highlighting the real-world fieldwork experiences of its students. This year, first-year students from the Faculty of History and Philology and the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Pedagogical Institute joined the Early Medieval Archaeological Expedition in the Astrakhan Region.

The research focused on a large religious structure measuring 100 by 40 meters, dating back to the 8th-9th centuries. The team also extended previous excavations to locate the structure’s north-western corner and establish the central entrance.

Students worked under the guidance of Vladimir Sarapulkin, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian History and Documentation, and Sergei Prokopenko, Associate Professor of the Department of General History. While the main finds were ceramic fragments and bones, students also discovered beads, a pendant, glass, and a dagger – artefacts that bring the distant past vividly to life.

“Students gained invaluable experience in the office processing of material found at the site in a field camp,” Prokopenko emphasized.

Preliminary conclusions suggest that reused brick structures surrounding the religious building date to a later period.