According to RIA Novosti, these and other data were obtained by specialists from St. Petersburg State University and the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences during archaeological research on the territory of the Menshikov bastion of the Peter Fortress. and Paul. . Fragments of the first fortress made of wood and earth were found there, built by decree of Peter I in 1703, which became the date of the founding of St. Petersburg.
Archaeologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences found a boot during excavations and handed over a soil sample from its sole to specialists from St. Petersburg University for analysis. “The mud on this boot is dry silt. So, at the construction site, a coastal reed bed probably existed – the builder walked there, and the silt stuck to the sole,” said Maria Fedorova, a graduate student at the Department of Floor. Soil Science and Ecology at St. Petersburg State University.
In addition, soil scientists studied the peat and turf blocks that bordered the first fortress. Radiocarbon analysis showed that the trees used for construction were approximately 200 years old. On the territory of the mouth of the Neva spruce, birch and pine forests grew with an admixture of alder.
In addition, the seeds of cultivated cereals and weeds found in the soil indicate that the territory of the future Saint Petersburg was partly dominated by people at the time the city was founded.
