Excavations in Taynitsky garden of the Moscow Kremlin and the history of archaeological research at Podol of the Borovitsky hill in Moscow during XIX-XX centuries

The paper deals with the history of investigation in the area of Podol - the baseof the Borovitsky Hill situated within the Moscow Kremlin. As early as XIX c. importantinformation was obtained concerning thickness of the cultural deposits in the territory ofPodol. The remains of wooden defensive constructions dating from the period of MedievalRus were recorded. A series of discovered finds, including unique charters of XIV century,mostly were stray ones. The objects of material culture chronologically ranged from theHigh Middle Ages to the beginning of the New Times. For the first time professionalarchaeological observations at Podol were conducted in the second part of XX century bythe team of the Moscow Kremlin museum-resort. As a result, it was established, that thelow riverside of the Borovitsky Hill was first settled in the second half of XIV century, afterthe earliest stone fortress in Moscow had been constructed there. Under the rule of PrinceDmitry Ivanovich the defensive walls and towers were for the first time built on the bankof the Moskva River. The earliest settlement dating from the turn of XII-XIII centurieswas located in the easternmost part of Podol. The first wide-scale excavations at Podol(and in the territory of the Moscow Kremlin in general) were performed in 2007 by theInstitute of Archaeology, RAS. They confirmed the preliminary conclusions drawn by thespecialists from the Moscow Kremlin museum-resort. The complicated picture of relief inthe eastern part of Podol became considerably clearer; data on layout and planning of urbanmansions within this part of the city were obtained. The recovered finds were transferred tothe collections of the Moscow Kremlin museum-resort. The excavations have also yieldedimportant information on social structure of the people who inhabited this part of thefortress on different stages of its functioning in XIV-XVII centuries.