Research of the Lepel Region

November 06, Lepel /Own Inf./. In the 1920s–1930s, there was a genuine rise in local history studies in Belarus. Interest in studying the past of one's region was also observed in the Lepel district. In 1929, Andrey Shashalevich, inspector of the Central Bureau of Local History of the BSSR, discovered traces of a settlement with pottery craft on a small island in the middle of Lake Lepel, near the village of Stary Lepel. Pottery with a wavy ornament from the 10th–12th centuries was found.

In 1931, under the leadership of Alexander Levdansky, the Belarusian Academy of Sciences organised a comprehensive expedition. From June to August, the area of the Berezina Canal and the Berezina River was studied, starting from Lepel to Babruysk. The expedition was attended by employees of the Institute of History, Archaeology section: Vasily Druzhchits, Sergey Dubinsky, Alexander Kovalenya; Ethnography section: M.Ya. Grinblatt and I.A. Serbaŭ. The Institute of Linguistics was represented by Barkovsky and I. Serbaŭ. Ethnographers set themselves the goal of studying the earlier branches of the economy of the BSSR. From a historical and archaeological perspective, the Berezina basin, being poorly studied until then, was an object of search for archaeological sites. Moreover, the Berezina River was part of the great waterway of the 9th–11th centuries.

The main transport for the expedition members was watercraft, which, by order of Lesbel, were allocated for temporary use by the Lepel Logging Office.

The expedition made excursions towards the main route – the river and stopping points. Thus, in the vicinity of Lepel, an area with a radius of 15–20 kilometers was explored. Found sites were recorded on a map, measured, and photographed. Excavations were carried out on some of them. During the expedition, archaeologists discovered and studied a number of historical sites. Near Stai, a settlement with remnants of pottery was found. Fortified settlements near the villages of Stary Lepel, Horadok, Staraselle, and the settlement of Augustovo (now Zvyazda village) were studied.

Ancient burials, specifically kurgans, were also not overlooked. The graves lined with stones particularly interested the expedition participants. They were circular or elongated in shape. Even now, the presence of burial grounds with similar burials is recorded in many settlements of the Lepel region. They are dated to the 12th–14th centuries.

The expedition took a large number of photographs, especially of timber rafting and fishing objects. Important monuments of material culture were photographed. For these purposes, the expedition had a specially constructed small field camera for developing plates and printing photographs on-site at any time. Sketches and measurements of the investigated objects were made.

Throughout the expedition's work, cultural and educational activities were also carried out. In Lepel, lectures were given on "Class Struggle in Literature" and "National Democracy and the Current Tasks of Linguistics"; in Domzharitsy, on "The Class Essence of Religion" and "Kupalle as a Relic of Wedding Celebrations." In addition, reports were made and a series of discussions were held on anti-religious and cultural-historical topics in connection with the research of archaeological sites.

The discoveries made gave an impetus to the research of our region. To this day, modern researchers refer to the contemporary works in the fields of archaeology and ethnography. Unfortunately, much of what the scientists recorded and collected in the 1930s was lost in the maelstrom of historical transformations.

Valeriy Tukhta.