Necropolises of the Moscow Kremlin: History and Stages of Field Archaeological Research.

Artemov Nikolai Postgraduate student, Department of Archaeology, Lomonosov Moscow State University 125475, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Klinskaya str., 14k1, sq. 231 frutsport@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction:The relevance of the research lies in the urgent need to generalize and systematize the currently known information about the field archaeological research of the Kremlin necropolises.

Existing studies of a historiographical nature, in which attention is paid to the archeology of the Kremlin necropolises, relate to field research in passing or relate to individual burial complexes. These publications will be briefly discussed below. Also in the introduction, the author considers it appropriate to indicate the main publications reflecting the process and results of the most informative field studies of individual necropolises of the Moscow Kremlin. It should be noted that most of the mentioned studies and articles belong to the Doctor of Historical Sciences T.D. Panova, who has been engaged in the archaeological study of the Moscow Kremlin for many years, and N.S. Shelyapina, her predecessor in this field. A number of recent publications on the topic belong to the leading employees of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences – N.A. Makarov, A.V. Engovatova, V.Y. Koval and others.

N.S. Shelyapina devoted several works to the results of her research of the oldest necropolis of the Moscow Kremlin, discovered under the Assumption Cathedral. The article "Archaeological observations in the Moscow Kremlin in 1963-1965" ^[32] published information about the author's archaeological observations, which revealed the cemetery and the results of his research – a brief description of the necropolis and the most striking artifacts. The article "On the History of the Study of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin" ^[34] was devoted by N.S. Shelyapina to substantiate her version about the belonging of the white-stone foundations of the first Moscow stone church found during observations in the Assumption Cathedral, built, according to the author, before the Kalita Temple, at the end of the XIII century. The article briefly mentions the necropolis studied by the author and the process of its study, including the first mention of the burial finds in 1913 ^{[34, p. 203]}. The author devoted the note "Tombstones of the XIII-XIV centuries from excavations in the Moscow Kremlin" ^[33] to the publication of white stone slabs from the cemetery studied.

Another article by N.S. Shelyapina "Archaeological research in the Assumption Cathedral" ^[35] is a copy of her earlier article "Archaeological observations in the Moscow Kremlin in 1963-1965" ^[32].

Later, in 1966, during archaeological surveys in the Assumption Cathedral, several more graves were discovered; information about them is reflected in the publication of archaeologist D.A. Belenka "Archaeological observations in the Assumption Cathedral in 1966" ^[3].

In 2002, T.D. Panova published an essay on the history of the Kremlin tombs "Necropolis of the Moscow Kremlin", which presents a chronological summary of data on those buried in the territory of the Moscow Kremlin since the XIV century. ^[18]. In one of the paragraphs, archaeological observations of the XX century were briefly mentioned, which made it possible to identify burial complexes unknown from written sources: cemeteries in the courtyard of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, at the Church of the Entrance to Jerusalem (near the Nikolsky Gate) and in the Patriarchal courtyard, near the Church of the Twelve Apostles ^{[18, p.17]}.

Generalizing work on the history of the Kremlin necropolises – "Kremlin tombs. History, fate, mystery" - was published by T. D. Panova in 2003 ^[23]. It mentions, in particular, I. Snegirev's observations on the repair work in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in the 19th century ^{[23, p. 100]}, the finding and investigation of burials in the Transfiguration Cathedral in 1836 ^{[23, p. 93]}, the search for the relics of Stephen of Perm in the same cathedral in 1909. ^{[23, p. 96]}.  Grave graves of Metropolitan Makarii of the middle of the XVI century ^{[23, p. 22-24]}, as well as the opening of the graves of Ivan the Terrible in 1963 ^{[23, p. 66]} and Prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky ^{[23, p. 76]} are noted in the book. The archaeological observations of V.P. XX century in the Assumption Cathedral, thanks to which it was possible to clarify the place of the tomb of Metropolitan Makarii of the middle of the XVI century ^{[23, p. 22-24]}, as well as the autopsy of the graves of Ivan the Terrible in 1963 ^{[23, p. 66]} and Prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky ^{[23, p. 76]}. The publication draws attention to the materials of autopsies of the burials of Grand Duchess Sophia Palaiologos ^{[23, p. 141]} and other princesses and queens from the necropolis of the Ascension Cathedral, other individual autopsies and observations. It is especially worth noting that as an appendix, the author cites an extremely valuable source – the diary of the autopsy of the graves of the Ascension Monastery ^{[23, p. 183]}. However, in general, the work is of a popular science nature and is designed mainly to captivate the reader with stories from the past of the buried.

The works of a historiographical nature on the history of the necropolis of the Ascension Monastery should include articles by T.D. Panova from the fundamental multi-volume study "The Necropolis of Russian Grand Duchesses and Queens in the Ascension Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin": "The history of the necropolis in the XV-XX centuries" ^[21] and "A brief history of the study of the necropolis in the middle of the XX-early XXI century"^[22], an article by B.L. Shapiro "The Necropolis of the Ascension Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin: history and museification" ^[29]. "The history of the necropolis in the XV-XX centuries"^[21] considers mainly the history of the formation and functioning of the necropolis of the Voznesensky Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin, but contains a mention of "scientific work during excavations near the Chudov and Voznesensky monasteries"^{[2, p. 30]} and information about the excavation and relocation to the Archangel Cathedral of white stone sarcophagi with remains, tombstones, as well as fragments of coffins of the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral ^{[21, p. 31]}. "A brief history of the study of the necropolis ..." ^[22] is more informative in the field of the history of the study of the remains of the necropolis of the Ascension Cathedral, but it already refers to desk research. The article by B.L. Shapiro ^[29], in general also describing, mainly, the history of the origin, existence and death of the monastery and the necropolis, contains slightly more detailed information about the opening and relocation of the graves of the necropolis of the Ascension Cathedral, in particular, mentioning the number of displaced sarcophagi and tombstones.

In 2014, V.B. Klyuev and T.D. Panova co-authored the book "St. Stephen, Bishop of Perm and the History of the necropolis of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin" ^[10]. Among other things, it reflects in detail the cycle of work on the search for the relics of Stephen of Perm and the conducted archaeological research of burials on the territory of the former Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery.

An important publication, including a brief overview of the Kremlin field archaeological research, is a collection of articles by the staff of IA RAS "Archeology of the Moscow Kremlin: Excavations 2016-2017" ^[2]. The publication of the collection was preceded by an article by N.A. Makarov, A.V. Engovatova and V.Y. Koval "Archaeological research in the eastern part of the Moscow Kremlin in 2014-2016" ^[14], in which the authors devoted the first paragraph to a concise description of the development of archaeological work in the Kremlin ^{[14, pp. 7-8]}.

The collection opens with an article by N.A. Makarov "What we know about the antiquities of the Moscow Kremlin" ^[12]. The article provides a brief history of archaeological research in the Kremlin and describes the uniqueness of archaeological works in 2016-2017, during which the remains of the necropolis of the Chudov Monastery were discovered, which is briefly mentioned in the articles of the collection "Tasks and progress of excavations" ^[13] authored by N.A. Makarov, A.V. Engovatova, V.Y. Koval and "Under the foundations of the VTsIK Military School: the cultural layer and the necropolis in the central part of the Chudov Monastery" ^[11] by N.A. Makarov and V.Y. Koval. It is worth noting that N.A. Makarov mentions the beginning of archaeological observations in the Kremlin since the 1950s ^{[12, p. 8]}. Indeed, since the 1950s, research has become systematic, but similar work has been carried out sporadically before.

Details about the necropolis of the Chudov Monastery and its archaeological study are presented in the article by A.V. Engovatova and E.E. Vasilyeva "Monastic necropolis: funeral rite" ^[38]. In the article by L.A. Belyaev and V.S. Kurmanovsky "Monastic necropolis: sarcophagi and slabs" ^[4], the funerary and burial structures found during the excavations of the necropolis are considered, in the articles by A.V. Engovatova and E.E. Vasilyeva "Necropolis of the Chudov Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin. Studies of wooden funerary structures" ^[39] and E.E. Vasilyeva "Studies of wooden funerary structures of the necropolis of the Chudov monastery of the Moscow Kremlin" ^[5] wooden funerary structures are considered.

It is also necessary to mention a comprehensive study by S.Y. Shokarev "Sources on the history of the Moscow Necropolis of the XII–early XX centuries." ^[37]. This voluminous work included mainly information about written and pictorial sources of Moscow necropolistics, but also mentioned archaeological sources and research, including on the territory of the Kremlin. Due to the subject matter of the work, the author mainly limited himself to reviewing the most important works of T.D. Panova, without paying attention directly to field research. In his work, S.Y. Shokarev points out that "the archaeological study of the Moscow necropolis began in the 1930s" ^{[37, p. 55]}, but in reality this process started earlier, which will be demonstrated in this article.

The first period: observations and accidental finds of the XIX–XX centuries.The necropolises of the Moscow Kremlin are divided into two main types – these are the most ancient underground cemeteries and status temples-tombs containing princely and episcopal burials.

For the discovery and research of both, field archaeological research – observations, pits and excavations have been actively used for almost two centuries.

Upon careful examination, archaeological research in the Kremlin is divided into two periods related to the state of archaeology at various historical stages of the country's existence. The first period covers accidental finds and fixations of the XIX century, as well as the search for church relics and the origin of archaeological observations in the Kremlin at the beginning of the XX century. It also includes the first post-revolutionary decades, when employees of the Kremlin museums, while observing the work on the dismantling of the Chudov and Voznesensky monasteries, opened and saved the status burials discovered during the destruction of monastic temples.

The first archaeologically recorded burials in the Moscow Kremlin are reflected in the "Antiquities of the Russian State" (the authors of the descriptions are historian A.F. Veltman (secular objects) and historian I.M. Snegirev (church objects), where some details about the finds of human burials are revealed. So, under the floors of the Transfiguration Cathedral: "... two stone coffins were opened in 1836 during the alteration of the walls under the stone platform" ^{[8, p. 162]}. A detailed analysis of the finds made it possible to make descriptions of sarcophagi and burial equipment. Based on these observations, the authors proposed dating the burials to the XIV century ^{[8, p. 166]} and identifying the identity of the buried: "... if these are not the remains of the young monk Joseph, the son of Donskoy, then there must be the relics of Fetinia" ^{[8, p. 165]}.

Anyway, the found burials belong to the status burials made under the floors of one of the temples-tombs of the Moscow Kremlin. The necropolis they were part of contained only six status burials and functioned from 1332 to 1399 ^{[18, p. 9]}. It is worth noting that the autopsy and fixation of these burials is unique in the methodology and quality of work for the XIX century.

During the repair work in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in the XIX century. during the excavation work, "human bones" were uncovered in the altar part, as mentioned by the historian-archaeologist I.M. Snegirev. In his opinion, these were the remains of "Princess Maria Lugvenevna Olgerdova and the daughter of Dmitry Ivanovich" ^{[23, p. 100]}.

In 1858, work began on the heating of the Assumption Cathedral. During the work, an earthen sinkhole was discovered in the altar part of the cathedral, under the section of the altar. In connection with these events, the first mention appears, still hypothetical, of burials under the Assumption Cathedral.: "the architectural council, when examining the site ... of an earthen sinkhole that appeared under the separation of the altar of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral, found that it probably occurred from the crypts that were destroyed from time to time in this place" ^{[15, p. 421]}. It was decided to "arrange a proper vault under the failure" ^{[15, p. 421]}. These works showed that the assumptions of the members of the architectural council were close to the truth.

I.M. Snegirev, in a work published in 1873, describing the "plan, facade and style" of the Assumption Cathedral, wrote: "There are no exits and basements visible under the very platform, except for the northern pre-altar, where there was a human-sized exit without a vault and a support until 1858; this vault collapsed, another one was made instead. A brick crypt is open at the northern doors and human bones are in it" ^{[28, p. 91]}. As it turned out in the course of later studies of the XX century, these finds were not related to temple tombs, but to an ancient dirt cemetery, on the site of which the Assumption Cathedral later stood. The research of necropolises in the XIX century was reduced to the above-mentioned accidental finds and their fixation, and not always complete and timely.

For the beginning of the XX century, there was a mention of the search for the relics of Bishop Stephen of Perm. In fact, these excavations had nothing to do with archaeology. In 1909, the residents of Perm submitted a petition to the Holy Synod to transfer the relics of the bishop of the XIV century to their city. In this regard, the Synod decided to "carry out appropriate investigations in the Kremlin Cathedral of the Savior in the Forest, with a report on the subsequent to the Holy Synod" ^{[10, p. 86]}. As a result of the excavations, both the bones of St. Stephen and other remains were found, which clearly had nothing to do with the relics. At the end of the investigations by the commission of the Holy Synod, for some reason all the bones found were collected together, placed in a wooden coffin, sealed and buried at the place of their discovery. As a result, the mixing of bones and the presence of the remains of several people did not allow the Synod to make a positive decision to transfer the relics of Bishop Stephen to Perm ^{[10, pp. 86-89]}.  Thus, as a result of insufficiently qualified actions of the Synod commission in 1909, both the remains of St. Stephen and part of the already small necropolis in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration Monastery were lost without proper fixation. However, the history of the remains of Stefan Permsky did not end there – they were returned to their study a century later ^[10].

Archaeological research of Kremlin necropolises in the XX century began with the observations of archaeologist S.S. Zakatov for earthworks near the Assumption Cathedral in 1913. Initially, during the excavation work, a heating pipe was discovered, arranged in 1858. A crypt with human remains and several burials were revealed below, two of them under carved white stone slabs ^{[33, p. 288; 36, p. 248-253]}. Several photographs have been preserved in the archive of the Armory Chamber ^{[34, p. 203]}. These burials belonged to an ancient dirt cemetery.

A forced break in the presence of archaeologists in the Kremlin occurred in 1918. The placement of Soviet government offices and apartments of Soviet leaders in its buildings led, due to the need to ensure their protection, to the strict isolation of the oldest section of the city ^{[19, p. 14]}. However, after the end of the revolutionary events, archaeologists continued to be attracted to the Kremlin to describe particularly significant finds of builders (treasures and status burials), committed, for example, during the creation of the military school of the Central Executive Committee or during the destruction of the Chudov and Voznesensky monasteries.

One of the oldest and most significant in the Kremlin, including in terms of the number of burials of the secular nobility, was the necropolis of the Cathedral of the Ascension of the Lord of the So-named Monastery, located near the Frolov (Spassky) gates in the Kremlin. The monastery was founded by the widow of Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Duchess Evdokia (Euphrosyne in monasticism), whose burial in 1407 marked the beginning of a new Kremlin tomb. The Ascension Cathedral became a resting place for women from the grand ducal and royal families. The necropolis has been developing for more than three centuries – the last burial was made here in 1731 - and was highly revered until the beginning of the twentieth century.

In its structure and location of graves, it is close to the necropolis of the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin. The monastery cemetery served for the burial of the sisters of this monastery, the wives of the clergy of the Kremlin cathedrals and women from some noble Moscow families.

The complex of buildings of the Ascension Monastery was dismantled in 1929-1930, but thanks to the efforts of the museum staff of the Armory, it was possible to organize monitoring of the work and save from destruction all sarcophagi found under the floor of the Ascension Cathedral with the remains of women from the families of the ruling Moscow house. The staff compiled a detailed diary of the autopsy of the discovered graves, published by T.D. Panova ^{[23, pp. 183-204]}. In total, 59 massive white stone sarcophagi and 8 burials under white stone slabs without tombs were discovered ^{[29, p. 11]}.

When studying medieval tombs in temples, researchers face a number of problems that are similar in many respects for complexes of a similar purpose. The practice of archaeological work shows that, as a rule, the composition of necropolises known from written sources does not coincide with the actual number of burials identified during research. This is clearly demonstrated by the data on the necropolis of the Ascension Cathedral in the Kremlin. Publications on its history dating back to the end of the XIX century contain information about 35 burials of Grand duchesses and queens ^[26]. In 1929, when disassembling the temple under its floors, about 70 burials were revealed, and half of this number were children's ^[23].

It becomes clear that some graves, especially those of princesses and children, either were not marked in the interior of the temple initially, or eventually lost these signs. That is why the burial places of many of them were so quickly forgotten.

During the disassembly of the Ascension Cathedral, it also turned out that the cancer of Grand Duchess Evdokia (Euphrosyne), placed in the interior of the cathedral, did not contain the remains of this Grand Duchess - it turned out to be empty. The sarcophagus with the remains of the founder of the monastery was placed under the floor ^[23].

An interesting discovery was the discovery of the burials of the Princesses of Staritsky in the necropolis of the Ascension Cathedral. A group of burials of women and girls from this famous family was placed in front of the northern doors of the temple and was not marked in the interior with tombstones ^[23]. It turned out that six representatives of this family were buried in the Ascension Cathedral - Princess Euphrosyne, the mother of Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky, his second wife and four daughters. There is no information about the place of their burial in written sources.

In 1941, when observing construction work near the Nikolsky Gate and the Arsenal, several burials in wooden coffins and one white stone tombstone belonging to the young children of Prince A.N. Trubetskoy – Anna and Irina, who died in 1646 and were buried together, were revealed ^[9]. Researchers then recorded the remains of the cemetery of the XVI-XVII centuries at the Church of the Entrance to Jerusalem ^{[18, p. 17]}.

Thus, the first period lasted until the middle of the XX century. The author considers it inappropriate to single out a separate stage from 1917 to the 1950s. This time in the study of the necropolises of the Moscow Kremlin, despite the drastic changes in the political structure of the country after the revolution of 1917, does not differ qualitatively from the pre-revolutionary one. The methods of archaeological work remain the same, selectivity, episodicity and even randomness of fixations are preserved, attention is paid to the most striking finds.

The second period: excavations and systematic observations of the second half of the XX – XXI century. Since the middle of the XX century, the second stage of the development of Kremlin archeology begins.

Systematic observations with the construction of pits and full-fledged excavations are beginning to be carried out in the Kremlin.

A qualitatively new stage is indirectly noted by other researchers – for example, N.A. Makarov counts archaeological observations in the Kremlin as the main source of information about Kremlin antiquities since the 1950s ^{[12, p. 8]}.

As M.G. Rabinovich rightly noted, prior to the research in 1956 on the right bank of the Neglinnaya River of the Kutafya Tower bridgehead, systematic archaeological work was not carried out in the Kremlin ^{[27, p. 41]}.

In 1959-1960, a group of archaeologists, led by N.N. Voronin, conducted archaeological excavations and observations on the territory of part of Borovitsky Hill in connection with the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. Within the central part of the construction site, to the north of the Large Grenadier Corps, two excavation sites with a total area of 210 m2 were laid ^{[19, p. 55]}. Archaeological observations covered the entire western and central parts of the Kremlin ^[6].

Although the studies of M.G. Rabinovich and N.N. Voronin did not reveal any burials, they marked a new milestone in the history of Kremlin archaeology. From now on, archaeologists began to carry out regular work in the Kremlin.

In the autumn of 1963, extensive excavation work began in the northern part of the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin. In this regard, the question arose about archaeological and architectural observations of the exposed cultural layer and exposed bearing structures of monuments ^{[30, p. 1]}.

Observations led by archaeologists N.S. Shelyapina (1963-1965) and M.H. Aleshkovsky (1965) continued continuously from October 1963 to December 1965. In the course of observations in the southern part of the Cross-Patriarchal Chamber and the Church of the Twelve Apostles, between the buildings of the chambers and the Assumption Cathedral, as well as under the walls of the cathedral itself, more than two dozen medieval graves were opened and ten white-stone tombstones were revealed. Thus, for the third time, the capital's archaeologists encountered an ancient dirt cemetery in the center of the Kremlin. The data obtained during the observations were reflected in the report of N.S. Shelyapina in 1968 ^[30] and several subsequent publications ^[32-35].

In 1966, D.A. Belenkaya conducted archaeological observations during the laying of pits in the interstellar space of the Assumption Cathedral. These works revealed several more burials ^[3].

In October 1967, architectural and archaeological observations in the Assumption Cathedral were continued. These studies, conducted by archaeologist E.V. Antonova, supplemented the picture of the location of the necropolis under study ^[31].

Thus, in the period from 1858 to 1967, in the space under the Assumption Cathedral, the Patriarchal Chambers and the Church of the Twelve Apostles, as well as between these buildings, Moscow researchers repeatedly encountered medieval graves: I.M. Snegirev in 1858, S.S. Zakatov in 1913, N.S. Shelyapin and M.H. Aleshkovsky in 1963-1965, D.A. Belenkaya in 1966, E.V. Antonova in 1967. They left descriptions of the finds, laid the foundation for the archaeological collection of the Moscow Kremlin museums, and some of the information was published.

The current picture demonstrates the presence on the studied territory of a multi-layered ancient dirt cemetery of the XII-XIV centuries, unknown according to synchronous written sources. However, these data have not been fully characterized and analyzed so far. The history of studying the oldest burial complex in Moscow at the moment, on the site of which the Assumption Cathedral stood in the XIV century, seems somewhat more complicated than it was presented in the articles by D.A. Belenka and N.S. Shelyapina of the early 1970s ^{[3, 32-35]}. This problem requires consideration in a separate work, here it can be briefly noted that N.S. Shelyapina has not published all the data obtained during observations, and the number of burials and tombstones in her reports and work plans exceeds the number indicated in the publications.

No less interesting are the pages of the history of the study of the Assumption Cathedral itself - the status necropolis-the tomb of the Moscow Kremlin and the first stone temple of Moscow. The formation of the necropolis in it began in 1326 – the Moscow Prince Yuri Daniilovich (his grave was last mentioned at the end of the XV century) and Metropolitan Peter were buried here. The tomb was conceived as a burial place for secular and spiritual lords of the Moscow Principality, but with the construction of the Archangel Cathedral in 1333, the necropolises were divided. Only the heads of the Russian Church were buried in the Assumption Cathedral. In total, 20 people were buried in this temple.

The disappearance of the grave of Metropolitan Philip I belongs to the mysteries of the Assumption Cathedral . He died on April 5, 1473: "And his coffin was near the northern church gates, the idea was the coffin ... of Metropolitan Jonah, entering the northern church doors on the right side" ^{[17, p. 409]}. But in the "Guide to the antiquities and memorabilia of Moscow ..." of the end of the XVIII century. ^[16] among the graves of the Assumption Cathedral, located near the northern wall, the tomb of Philip I is no longer mentioned.

It was possible to find the missing grave of the metropolitan in the 1960s when constructing pits for architectural and archaeological research in the cathedral. Details about this find were published by T.D. Panova in 1998 ^[20].

Archaeological observations of the second half of the XX century made it possible to identify other burial complexes not mentioned in the sources and historical literature on the Moscow Kremlin.

The presence of a cemetery in the Patriarchal Courtyard in the XVI-XVII centuries was archaeologically recorded ^{[18, p. 17]}. This discovery was made by N.S. Shelyapina during the above-described archaeological works of 1963-1965. Three burials in box pine coffins with flat lids were found in the pit, attributed by the researcher to the cemetery at the church of the Apostle Philip (the Twelve Apostles) ^{[30, p. 13]}.

In 1969, at the southern facade of the Kremlin Theater, the territory of a dirt cemetery was partially opened and examined, the most recent burials of which N.S. Shelyapina attributed to the courtyard church of the Exaltation of the Boyars Khovrin-Golovins, erected in ser. XV century . This underground necropolis overlapped the territory of an earlier funerary monument, the lower horizon of the burials of which was dated to the 13th century and attributed by N.S. Shelyapina to an early cult center on the territory of the foothills, where the Voznesensky and Chudov monasteries later stood ^{[36, pp. 205-207]}.

On the territory of the compound of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery near the Spassky Gate in 1976, during the excavation work of T.D. Panova, five white stone sarcophagi with bone remains were recorded. One of the sarcophagi was signed. It turned out that the burials belonged to the family of boyar and voivode F.I. Sheremetev, one of the participants in the government of the so-called "semiboyarshchyna". His possessions were located next to the monastery compound ^{[18, p. 17]}.

As it turned out as a result, during the observations of T.D. Panova in 1988 in the Tainitsky Garden, at the Church of Constantine and Elena on Podol in the XVII-XVIII centuries, a dirt necropolis for priests continued to function, although the remaining dirt cemeteries on the territory of the Kremlin were closed for new burials by the tsarist decree of 1657 ^{[18, p. 17]}. These works uncovered foundations made of brick and white stone, near which individual human bones and disturbed burials were constantly found, including in brick crypts. Several late stone tombstones with inscriptions were also identified, which made it possible to establish that the cemetery functioned longer than written sources tell us ^{[24, p. 11]}.

In 1997, T.D. Panova's observations of construction work in the courtyard of the Grand Kremlin Palace revealed a fragment of the foundation of the Transfiguration Cathedral and the remains of the monastery cemetery - 2 damaged uninvented burials ^{[10, p. 91]}.

Since the early 1960s, all archaeological research on Borovitsky Hill has been conducted by employees of the Moscow Kremlin Museums. Basically, these were observations and small pits conducted in 1960-1973 under the leadership of N.S. Shelyapina, and later under the leadership of T.D. Panova. However, until recently, in most cases, the nature of the work did not allow for full-fledged research, and some details of the burial finds were never published.

In the XXI century, the situation began to change for the better. In addition to systematic archaeological observations of earthworks and small pits, it has become possible to excavate large areas in the Moscow Kremlin. In 2007, full-scale archaeological research was carried out in the Tainitsky Garden on an area of 800 m2 ^{[12, p. 16]}. The excavations were led by T.D. Panova and V.Y. Koval. The area of these works included, among other things, three burials of the XIV-XV centuries in wooden coffins belonging to the cemetery of the Church of Constantine and Elena ^{[25, pp. 327-329]}.

It is noteworthy that in the same year, work was carried out to raise the burials found in the courtyard of the Grand Kremlin Palace in 1997 and then left at the bottom of the pit, with the aim of another search for the relics of Stefan Permsky. However, these works qualitatively and methodically differed significantly from similar works of the beginning . XX century . As a result of small-area excavation and further natural science research (forensic, anthropological), the scattered remains of 36 people belonging to the monastery cemetery were discovered and studied, including 4 bone fragments interpreted by researchers as the remains of Stefan Permsky ^{[10, pp. 116-124]}.

In 2014-2017, the staff of IA RAS carried out full-fledged excavations at the site of the dismantled 14th building of the Moscow Kremlin. Excavations in the Kremlin were carried out earlier, at the end of 1950 ^[6] and in 2007 ^{[12, p. 8]}. Also, some significant pits in the second half of XX – beginning. The XXI century is interpreted by researchers as excavations, for example, works near the Armory Tower in 1979 ^[1]. But the 2014-2017 studies are notable not only for the large area and the systematic nature of the work carried out. As a result of their conduct, a significant section of the monastery's dirt cemetery of the XIV-XVII centuries was opened and studied ^[2].

This necropolis became the first monastic cemetery on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin, the site of which was fully studied, and not partially recorded in the process of archaeological observations. Excavations in 2014-2017 explored part of the necropolis of the Chudov Monastery, located to the north and west of the alleged location of the Cathedral of the Miracle of Archangel Michael of the early XVI century. During the excavations, 120 burials were revealed ^{[38, p. 107]}, at least 40 tombstones and their fragments, and 6 stone sarcophagi ^{[4, p. 116-117]}. Most of the burials were made in wooden coffins, a total of 84 wooden funerary structures were recorded ^{[5, p. 93]}.

Gravestones belonging to historical figures known from written sources, such as the nobleman Vasily Glebov, the son of Saltykov, who died during the capture of the Paida fortress in Livonia at the turn of 1572-1573, the voivode Ratman Andreevich Velyaminov, a distant relative of Tsar Boris Godunov, and others, are recorded among the tombstones ^{[4, pp. 119-121]}. All this made it possible to determine the nature of the necropolis as a status cemetery of one of the most influential spiritual corporations of Moscow Russia. The archaeological and anthropological materials of the 2016-2017 excavations were studied in detail, including by natural science methods. The results of these studies were published in 2017-2018 in the form of separate publications ^{[5, 7, 14, 38]} and a collection of articles ^[2].

ConclusionThe history of the study of Kremlin necropolises by field archaeological methods considered in the article clearly demonstrates the progressive development of Kremlin archaeology.

The growth of the number of cemeteries and necropolises studied, the development of field research methods used (from the fixation of accidental finds and observations of earthworks to architectural and archaeological pits and full-fledged excavations), a qualitatively new approach to the study of burials (natural science methods, new information on bone remains, etc.), the expansion of knowledge about the funeral rite of the Russian Middle Ages and early Modern times – all this can be traced in the process of archaeological research of cemeteries of the historical core of Moscow.

For more than two hundred years of field research in the Kremlin, the following were discovered: the temple necropolis of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the XIV century. and the monastery dirt cemetery at it, the burial of the XIV-XV centuries. in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, the temple necropolis of the Ascension Cathedral of the XV-XVIII centuries., soil cemeteries of the XVI-XVII centuries. at the Church of the Entrance to Jerusalem and on the Patriarchal in the courtyard, near the Church of the Twelve Apostles, a dirt cemetery of the XII-XIV centuries. in the cultural layer under the Assumption Cathedral, Patriarchal Chambers and the Church of the Twelve Apostles, the cemetery of the XV century. near the Church of the Exaltation and the earlier necropolis of the XIII-XIV centuries, the lost grave of Metropolitan Philip in the Assumption Cathedral, the status burials of the boyars of the Sheremetevs on the territory of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, a dirt necropolis for priests at the church of Constantine and Elena on Podol, which functioned until the XVIII century., the dirt cemetery of the Chudov monastery of the XIV-XVII centuries.

Some of these necropolises have been partially studied by archaeological observations, the construction of architectural and archaeological pits or by the method of full-fledged archaeological excavations. The materials of these studies have been published, however, not in all cases fully and correctly enough, which leaves the field for further research.

 This article allowed us to trace and briefly describe the process and results of field research of the necropolises of the Moscow Kremlin, to highlight the stages of their development. The criterion for the identification of periods was the predominance and/or the presence of certain field archaeological research methods.

The first period – the time of episodic fixation of accidental finds of builders, which gradually developed into archaeological observations, lasted from the late 1830s to the early 1950s. The second period begins in the second half of the 1950s and continues to this day. It is already characterized by systematic observations of earthworks with the construction of architectural and archaeological pits and the emergence of the opportunity to conduct full-fledged archaeological excavations in certain areas.