Ancient Heart of Tmutarakan Descends to Sea

In the recent half a century more than 40 thousand sepulchers of Hermonassa (Tmutarakan) - one of the oldest cities of modern Russia - have collapsed into the sea, Russian archeologists find out. Archeologists have been studying Hermonassa for many years. Representatives of various civilizations inhabited that place for over 2500 years. Today the capital of Taman is situated there. The steep shores, on which Taman stands, have been descending to the sea for many tens of years. This year archeologists have decided to make it clear to what extent the ancient monuments are damaged by that natural process. As the tentative assessment shows, just in the recent 50 years more than 80 thousand square meters of the ancient necropolis of Hermonassa have collapsed into the sea. However, these are not only powers of nature that destroy the archeological monuments. “Black archeologists” are frequent guests there, while exploration of new resort area is connected with modern construction and destruction of ancient monuments. Diggings of the necropolis will continue in May, though archeologists have no financing. Mostly volunteers are into study and rescuing of the ancient legacy. The most interesting finds will be exhibited in the Taman Museum in the near future.