Archaeological study of the Varzuga River

The Varzuga River on the northern shore of the White Sea is an important site for the archaeology of Russian Lapland. Here the archaeological study of this region began. The work provides a historiographical overview from the first finds in the XIX century to the excavations of 2009–2013, when two objects were examined: the fortification of the beginning of the XV century and the rural cemetery of the XIV–XVIII centuries. The reconstruction of a small rural fortress was made. We managed to find the first church of the village of the end of the XIV — beginning of the XV century. Interesting information about the late medieval burial rite has been obtained. Anthropological materials speak about the Karelian basis of the medieval population of the Terek coast. According to the results of archaeological work, it is clear that in the middle of the XIV century, a large Korela settlement with a church already existed on the site of the modern village.