In order to know history well, you need to be able to present it. Our school teacher said this phrase very often in history class. And, you can’t argue, a person with a poor imagination is unlikely to want to become a digger or a lover of instrumental search.
Earlier in the notes of this blog and on the website, I already mentioned roadside camps . What it is? These are night stops for truck drivers of past centuries. We all know that places where there once stood inns, pits or post stations are the most interesting locations for a cop. But all such places that are indicated on old maps have long been walked and knocked out by diggers. There are people who like to rustle up such former taverns and courtyards, but this is a separate topic.
So, everyone has read or heard about inns and how many interesting finds you can find there, but many are reading about roadside camps for the first time. Everything is very simple. In those distant times, travelers, traders and cargo carriers, just like today, tried to save as much as possible. Therefore, they spent the night not in inns, but in groves along the road. Of course, this was acceptable in the warm season, although in winter, if it was not very cold outside, then the main thing was to shelter from the wind and cover the horse with a mat or blanket. Details can also be discussed separately in the comments.
I think that to fully understand what the roadside camps looked like, we can compare them with the same truck stops. There was minimal infrastructure in the form of a table with benches under a canopy and fire pits, there was an opportunity to chop firewood and, most importantly, to water the horses and oxen.
Until this year, I read about such roadside camps in historical documents, and from the stories of comrades I understood that they had dug just such places before. And then, three weeks ago, I found such a place. There is a sandy hill, there is a swamp on the edge and, most importantly, the provincial postal route once passed through here.
And so, the main signs of where to look for roadside stations? At least 2-3 miles from the nearest populated area. Why? During outbreaks of various epidemics, passing merchants and travelers were not allowed into villages and villages. Allowing them to stop for the night as far as possible from the outskirts of the village. The place should be dry, but close to a source of clean water. There were probably wells there, I often heard stories about how mushroom pickers or hunters in our forests found old wells, while there were no houses or other buildings in the area. Naturally, there must be a road nearby, or there once was a busy road. Moreover, the camp itself could be located at a distance of up to one mile from the road. What was important for travelers was convenience, watering place and safety. Rural thieves also did not sleep at night, wanting to quietly steal something from rich merchants.
That’s basically all the advice, and I’ve prepared for you a small selection of photographs of finds from that same plowed field where there once was a roadside camp. I wish you pleasant viewing.
