RGS Expedition Lifted an Unusual Object from the Bottom of the Tobol

Работа на льду Тобола. Фото участников экспедиции

The Tobol River continues to amaze researchers with rare finds. At the end of February, the expedition of the Sverdlovsk Branch of the Russian Geographical Society and the diving center "Triton" raised the bones of ancient bison, horses and reindeer from the bottom here. In the bottom soil, a large number of teeth of prehistoric sharks and fragments of skeletons of fish from the late Eocene period were found. The collection of gathered artifacts and objects, the origin of which has yet to be clarified by scientists, has been replenished. Among them – a stone with an artificial hole and some very mysterious fossil.

The representatives of several branches of the Russian Geographical Society have been engaged in underwater excavations on the Tobol for almost 20 years. Field work is carried out mainly in winter. Why it is more convenient for the researchers was previously told by the participants of the expedition – a member of the Council of the Sverdlovsk Regional Branch of the Russian Geographical Society Sergey Kondrashin and the head of the Sysert Local Branch of the Russian Geographical Society Vladislav Derbyshev. Paleontologists-enthusiasts never return "from the field" empty-handed. The source of the unique finds is the "bone lens" under the city of Kurgan. This is a kind of "archive" of the history of our planet from ancient times to the relatively recent past.

Once again the geographers went to the Tobol on February 25–27. The "catch" in the form of paleontological and archaeological objects is quite large. In addition to the fossilized remains of ancient animals and fish, traces of human activity have been found. One of the objects has the geographers very puzzled.

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Загадочная окаменелость. Фото участников экспедиции

“The most interesting find is a fragment that we have not yet been able to accurately identify,” Vladislav Derbyshev admitted. It looks like a piece of the shell of an ancient reptile or part of a spore plant.

“Findings that may date back to the late Neolithic period are also interesting. For example, a stone with a hole, which could be a sinker for fishing nets. There are similar sinkers in our museum and they were found near the city of Tobolsk by a local resident,” said the head of the Sysert Branch of the Russian Geographical Society.

Unusual items were sent for study by professional archaeologists and paleontologists.

“We are waiting for the results of the examinations,” Derbyshev added.

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Камень с рукотворным отверстием. Фото участников экспедиции

In the course of the work, quite "fresh" antiquities were also found: an iron wheel of agricultural machinery from the middle of the 20th century and a fragment of an oar from the middle to the end of the 19th century. All interesting finds will replenish the collection of the museum of expeditions and travels of the Russian Geographical Society in the city of Sysert. They will be presented in the exhibition "Life and culture of the peoples of the Urals".

The Sverdlovsk geographers did not leave their colleagues from Kurgan without a gift either. At the meeting, which took place in the house-museum of Wilhelm Küchelbecker, the staff of the Kurgan Regional Museum of Local History were given a tooth of a fossil shark. This species was discovered thanks to expeditionary work on the Tobol in January 2022.

Aleksander Zhirnov