Investigations of the necropolis of the Petrovskoye archaeological complex by students of the Archaeological Institute in 1880
This paper presents results of the first excavations carried out in the area of the Petrovskoye archaeological complex by the Director and students of the Saint Petersburg Archaeological Institute on July 12-13, 1880. The absence of reporting documents and the complicated fate of the collection of finds have led to the loss of principally important data, such as the location of the mounds within the territory of the burial ground, plans and sections of the barrows, and descriptions of the state of preservation of the burial complexes. The main source of information is represented by an item in a periodical of 1880 enabling us to obtain a general idea how the excavations took place. The collection of the State Hermitage contains finds from excavations of seven kurgans comprising 43 pieces. The materials concerned with these investigations include both the objects fairly well known from Old-Russian burials and unique finds from this cemetery.