A pishchal from the first half of the 17th century was discovered by archaeologists in Orel.

The excavations were carried out by employees Seima-Sudzhinsky expedition on the territory of the memorial park Oryol Fortress. how сообщается In the Telegram channel of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, an entire barrel of a small-caliber gun and a fragment of the breech of a similar arquebus were discovered near the foundation of a house marked on a 1727 map as a "voivode's hut."

"In pre-Petrine Rus', such arquebuses were called 'volkonya' or 'volkoneyka'—a re-vocalization of the Western European name for a weapon of this type, 'falconet.' We cannot now say exactly where and when this arquebus was made.", — said the expedition leader Oleg Radush. - We have two versions of the time of its production: either it was made before 1615 and was used to defend Orel during Lisovsky’s campaign, or it was brought to the Orel fortress after 1636, when the city began to revive after the fire.”

In the 1615 year under Eagle A military clash occurred between a detachment of Polish light cavalry and a detachment of the Tsar's military men led by Prince Pozharsky. The battle lasted six days, after which the Polish commander Alexander Lisovsky He took Oryol by surprise and burned the city. Oryol was rebuilt only in 1636. 

Scientists specify that the upper part of the discovered arquebus is decorated with a snake's head. Similar arquebuses are kept in museums. Moscow, Uglich и PermThey are all made using the same technology: forged from iron and consisting of three parts welded together.

“Probably, after participating in military operations, the arquebus ended its life as a signal gun, which explains its good preservation,” — Radush explained.

Photo: Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences