Studies in the History of Science and TechnologyStudies in the History of Science and TechnologyВопросы истории естествознания и техники0205-96062713-041XRussian Academy of Sciences68464310.31857/S0205960625010064CNOSZFHistorical ReviewsИсторические обзорыReview ArticleDiscovery of Amethysts on the White Sea Coast of Russian Lapland: Historical RealitiesОткрытие аметистов Беломорского побережья Русской Лапландии: исторические реалииPetrovskiyMikhail N.ПетровскийМихаил Николаевич
Russian Federation
petrovsk2@rambler.ruGeological Institute of the Federal Research Center “Kola Science Center RAS”Геологический институт Федерального исследовательского центра «Кольский научный центр РАН»040520254619812316062025Copyright ©; 2025, Russian Academy of SciencesCopyright ©; 2025, Российская академия наук2025Russian Academy of SciencesРоссийская академия наукhttps://gynecology.orscience.ru/0205-9606/article/view/684643

Based on a range of sources, the article analyzes the following statements that are common in the geological and historical literature: the amethyst deposits in Russian Lapland have been known since the 16th century; the first information about these deposits was provided by O. Magnus in his “History of the Northern Peoples”; these amethysts have been mined by the Solovetsky (Solovki) Monastery since the 16th century. As a result of our research, however, these statements cannot be not confirmed either by the content of written sources or by archaeological finds. It is established that the Cape Korabl amethyst deposit was first described in 1834 by N. V. Shirokshin, captain of the Corps of Mining Engineers. Since then, the information about the amethysts in Russian Lapland was being spread among both the professional geological community and a wider audience interested in the research and exploration of the Far North of European Russia. Therefore, any large-scale amethyst mining on the White Sea coast of Lapland, either by the Solovetsky Monastery or by anyone else, in the 16th–19th centuries is out of the question. Accordingly, the territory of Russian Lapland cannot be regarded as a historical amethyst distribution center in Muscovy (Russian Empire).

В статье на основании изучения различных источников анализируются распространенные в геологической и исторической литературе утверждения о том, что месторождения аметистов Русской Лапландии известны с XVI в., что первые сведения о них привел О. Магнус в своей «Истории северных народов» и что с XVI в. добыча этих аметистов производилась Соловецким монастырем. В результате исследований выяснено, что эти воззрения не подтверждаются письменными источниками и археологическими находками. Установлено, что аметистовое месторождение на мысе Корабль было впервые описано в 1834 г. капитаном Корпуса горных инженеров Н. В. Широкшиным. С этого времени сведения об аметистах Русской Лапландии распространяются как в профессиональном геологическом обществе, так и среди лиц, интересующихся изучением и освоением Крайнего Севера европейской части России. Поэтому ни о какой масштабной добыче аметистов беломорского побережья Лапландии ни Соловецким монастырем, ни кем-то еще в XVI–XIX вв. не может быть и речи. Соответственно, территория Русской Лапландии не может рассматриваться как исторический центр распространения аметиста в Московском государстве (Российской империи).

amethystRussian LaplandCape KorablOlaus Magnus16th–19th centuriesSolovetsky (Solovki) MonasteryN. V. ShirokshinA. E. FersmanаметистРусская Лапландиямыс КорабльОлаус МагнусXVI–XIX вв.Соловецкий монастырьН. В. ШирокшинА. Е. ФерсманArsen’ev, K. I. (1830) Opisanie Olonetskikh zavodov, s samogo ikh osnovaniia, do poslednikh vremen, s kratkim obozreniem Olonetskoi gubernii [Description of the Olonets Factories, from Their Foundation to Recent Times, with a Brief Overview of the Olonets Province], Trudy Mineralogicheskogo obshchestva, vol. 1, pp. 281–332.Artamonov, V. S. (1962) Poludragotsennye kamni Severo-Zapada RSFSR (ametist, granat-al’mandin, lunnyi kamen’, solnechnyi kamen’) [Semi-Precious Stones of the North-West of the RSFSR (Amethyst, Almandine Garnet, Moonstone, Sunstone)], in: Barkanov, I. V., Ziskind, M. S., and Ivanov, P. I. (eds.) Materialy po geologii i poleznym iskopaemym Severo-Zapada RSFSR [Materials on Geology and Minerals of the North-West of the RSFSR]. Leningrad: Gostoptekhizdat, iss. 3, pp. 195–213.Artsikhovskii, A. V. (1949) Raskopki vostochnoi chasti Dvorishcha v Novgorode [Excavations of the Eastern Part of the Dvorishche in Novgorod], in: Materialy i issledovaniia po arkheologii SSSR [Materials and Research in Archeology of the USSR]. Moskva and Leningrad: Izdatel’stvo AN SSSR, no. 11. pp. 152–176.Beliankin, D. S., and Kupletskii, B. M. (1924) Gornye porody i poleznye iskopaemye Severnogo poberezh’ia i prilegaiushchikh k nemu ostrovov Kandalakshskoi guby Belogo moria (po dannym ekskursii 1917 g.) [Rocks and Minerals of the Northern Coast and Adjacent Islands of the Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea (Based on the Data from the Excursion in 1917)], in: Trudy Severnoi nauchno-promyslovoi ekspeditsii [Proceedings of the Northern Scientific and Fishing Expedition]. Moskva and Leningrad: Tipografiia izdatelʼstva “Molodaia gvardiia”, iss. 18.Bize, A. M. (1936) Poiski dragotsennykh metallov na Severe v XVII i XVIII vv. [Searching for Precious Metals in the North in the 17th and 18th Centuries], Krasnyi arkhiv, no. 2, pp. 113–144.Borisov, A. M. (1966) Khoziaistvo Solovetskogo monastyria i bor’ba krest’ian s severnymi monastyriami v XV–XVII vv. [The Solovetsky Monastery’s Economy and the Peasants’ Struggle against Northern Monasteries in the 15th–17th Century]. Petrozavodsk: Karel’skoe knizhnoe izdatel’stvo.Borisov, P. A., Kotlukov, V. A., Osmolovskii, M. G. еt al. (eds.) (1933) Poleznye iskopaemye Leningradskoi oblasti i Karel’skoi ASSR [Mineral Resources of the Leningrad Oblast and the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]. Leningrad and Moskva: Gorno-geologo-neftianoe izdatel’stvo, pt. 1: Leningradskaia oblastʼ [Leningrad Region].Bureus, A. (1631) Orbis Arctoi, Imprimisque Regni Sveciae Nova et accurata descriptio. Witteberga: Typus baredum Christiani Tham.Burov, V. A. (2006) Arkheologicheskoe issledovanie Solovetskogo monastyria (k stanovleniiu monastyrskoi arkheologii Drevnei Rusi). Chast’ 1. Istoriia arkheologicheskikh issledovanii [Archaeological Research of the Solovetsky Monastery (On the Formation of Monastic Archeology of Ancient Rus). Part 1. History of Archaeological Research], Vestnik Pomorskogo universiteta, seriia: Gumanitarnye i sotsialnye nauki, no. 2, pp. 5–11.Burov, V. A. (2007) Arkheologicheskoe issledovanie Solovetskogo monastyria (k stanovleniiu monastyrskoi arkheologii Drevnei Rusi). Chast’ 2. Osnovnye temy arkheologii Solovetskogo monastyria; napravleniia monastyrskoi arkheologii [Archaeological Research of the Solovetsky Monastery (On the Formation of Monastic Archeology of Ancient Rus’). Part 2. Main Topics in Archeology of the Solovetsky Monastery; Lines of Research in Monastic Archeology], Vestnik Pomorskogo universiteta, seriia: Gumanitarnye i sotsial’nye nauki, no. 1. pp. 5–10.Dergachov, N. (1877) Russkaia Laplandiia: statisticheskii, geograficheskii i etnograficheskii ocherki. Ocherk 2. Geografiia Lopskoi zemli [Russian Lapland: Statistical, Geographic and Ethnographic Essays. Essay 2. Geography of the Lop Land]. Arkhangel’sk: Tipografiia Gubernskogo pravleniia.Dravert, P. L. (1903) Otchet ob ekskursii na Srednii Ural 1900 goda [Report on an Excursion to the Middle Urals in 1900]. Kazan’: Tipo-litografiia Kazanskogo universiteta.Engel’man, I. (1838) Vzgliad na geologo-geognosticheskii sostav Olonetskogo gornogo okruga [An Outlook on the Geologic and Geognostic Composition of the Olonets Mining District], Gornyi zhurnal, pt. 1, book 2, pp. 191–249.Fersman, A. E. (1920) Dragotsennye i tsvetnyye kamni Rossii [Precious and Colored Stones of Russia]. Petrograd: 4-ia Gosudarstvennaia tipografiia, vol. 1.Fersman, A. E. (1962) Izbrannye trudy [Selected Works]. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo AN SSSR, vol. 7.Foullon, A. A. (1812) Notices sur une production minérale du Gouvernement d’Olonetz, Mémoires de la Societe impériale des naturalistes de Moscou, vol. 3, pp. 289–298.Frishman, N. I. (2001) Geologo-tektonicheskie usloviia obrazovaniia i genezis mestorozhdeniia ametista “Mys Korabl’”, Murmanskaia oblast’ [Geological and Tectonic Conditions of the Formation, and the Genesis of the Deposit, of the Amethysts on Cape Korabl, Murmansk Region], Geologiia i razvedka, no. 5, pp. 156–158.Frishman, N. I. (2007) Ametistovyi bereg [The Amethyst Coast]. Murmansk and Sankt-Peterburg: Russkaia kollektsiia.Frishman, N. I., Fedorov, A. V., and Kuzovenkova, T. Iu. (2002) Gemmologicheskie osobennosti ametistov mestorozhdeniia “Mys Korabl’” (Murmanskaia oblast’) [Gemological Features of the Amethysts from the Cape Korabl Deposit (Murmansk Region)], Vestnik gemmologii, no. 1, pp. 17–27.Glebovitskii, V. A. (ed.) (2005) Rannii dokembrii Baltiiskogo shchita [Early Precambrian of the Baltic Shield]. Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka.Hermann, B. F. (1789) Versuch einer mineralogischen Beschreibung des Uralischen Erzgebirges. Berlin and Stettin: Typ. F. Nicolai, vol. 1.Irman, N. (1838) O mestorozhdenii tsvetnykh kamnei v Murzinskoi slobode [On the Deposit of Colored Stones in Murzinskaia Sloboda], Gornyi zhurnal, pt. 1, book 2, pp. 222–233.Kievlenko, E. Ia., Senkevich, N. N., and Gavrilov, A. P. (1982) Geologiia mestorozhdenii dragotsennykh kamnei [Geology of Precious Stone Deposits]. Moskva: Nedra.Kornilov, N. I., and Solodova, Iu. P. (1986) Iuvelirnye kamni [Jem Stones]. Moskva: Nedra.Kritskii, Iu. M. (2006) Promysly i remesla severnogo krest’ianstva i Solovetskogo monastyria XV–XX vv. [Trades and Crafts of the Northern Peasantry and the Solovetsky Monastery in the 15th–20th Centuries], in: Rubtsov, S. G. (ed.) Solovetskiy sbornik [The Solovki Collection]. Arkhangel’sk: Solovetskii gosudarstvennyi istoriko-arkhitekturnyi i prirodnyi muzei-zapovednik, iss. 3, pp. 218–255.Kutsenko, E. I. (1973) Tipy mestorozhdenii ametista i ego resursy [Types of Amethyst Deposits and Its Resources], in: Smirnov, V. I. (ed.) Dragotsennye i tsvetnye kamni kak poleznye iskopaemye [Precious and Colored Stones as Minerals]. Moskva: Nauka, pp. 152–166.Kuzina, I. N., and Okulov, A. V. (2016) Ametisty XVI veka s Romanova dvora (Moskva) [16th Century Amethysts of the Romanov Court (Moscow)], in: Beliaev, L. A., and Iurasov, A. V. (eds.) Ot smuty k imperii. Novye otkrytiia v oblasti arkheologii i istorii Rossii XVI–XVIII vv. [From the Strife to the Empire. New Discoveries in the Field of Archeology and History of Russia from the 16th to 18th Centuries]. Moskva and Vologda: Drevnosti Severa, pp. 106–122.Lepekhin, I. I. (1780) Prodolzhenie dnevnykh zapisok puteshestviia Ivana Lepekhina, Akademika i Meditsiny Doktora; Vol’nago ekonomicheskogo i Druzei prirody ispytatelei v Berline i Gessengomburgskago patrioticheskago, Obshchestv Chlena, po raznym provintsiiam Rossiiskogo Gosudarstva 1771 godu [Continuation of Daily Travel Notes of Ivan Lepekhin, Academician and Doctor of Medicine, Member of Voluntary Economic Society in S.P, Berlin Society of Naturalists, and Hessen-Homburg Patriotic Society, of His Travels of Different Provinces of the Russian State in 1771]. Sankt-Peterburg: Pri Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk.Magnus, O. (1555) Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, earumque diversis statibus, conditionibus, moribus, ritibus, superstitionibus, disсiplinis, exercitiis, regimine, victu, bellis, structuris, instrumentis, ac mineris metallicis, et rebus mirabilibus, necnon universis pene animalibus in Septentrione degentibus eorumque natura. Roma.Meiendorf, A. K. (1849) Opyt prikladnoi geologii. Preimushchestva Severnago basseina Evropeiskoi Rossii [An Essay on Applied Geology. Advantages of the Northern Basin of European Russia]. Sankt-Peterburg: Tipipografiia Departamenta vneshnei norgovli.Mel’nikov, M. P. (1892) Zametki po rozysku almazov na reke Paz v Prinorvezhskoi Laplandii [Notes on the Search for Diamonds on the Pasvik River in Norwegian Lapland], Gornyi zhurnal, no. 3, pp. 447–465.Ob ametistovoi druze [On the Amethyst Druse] (1830), Gornyi zhurnal, pt. 4, book 12, pp. 424–425.Okulov, A. V., and Kuzina, I. N. (2019) Ametisty Terskogo berega iz arkheologicheskikh raskopok v Velikom Novgorode [Tersky Coast Amethysts from Archaeological Excavations in Velikii Novgorod], Otechestvennaia geologiia, no. 6, pp. 50–63.Okulov, A. V., Shkurskii, B. B., Romanova, E. A., Danilov, V. V., and Gurvich, M. Iu. (2015) Iuvelirnye granaty Kitel’skogo mestorozhdeniia iz arkheologicheskikh raskopok v Tveri [Gem Garnets, Originating from the Kitelskoe Deposit, from Archaeological Excavations in Tver], Otechestvennaia geologiia, no. 4, pp. 50–62.Pallas, P. S. (1781) Neue nordische Beiträge zur physikalischen und geographischen Erd- und Völkerbeschreibung, Naturgeschichte und Ökonomie. Sankt-Petersburg and Leipzig: Bei Johann Zacharias Logan, vol. 1.Petrovskii, M. N. (2019) Pervye nauchnye geologicheskie znaniia o Kol’skom poluostrove v kontekste estestvenno-nauchnogo izucheniia Russkoi Laplandii v XVIII – pervoi polovine XIX stoletii (Chast’ I) [The First Scientific Geological Knowledge about the Kola Peninsula in the Context of the Natural Science Study of Russian Lapland in the 18th – First Half of the 19th Century (Part 1)], Istoriia nauki i tekhniki, no. 1, pp. 24–30.Petrovskii, M. N. (2022) K istorii gornozavodskogo dela v Russkoi Laplandii XVIII veka [On the History of Mining in Russian Lapland in the 18th Century], Trudy Kol’skogo nauchnogo tsentra RAN, seriia: Estestvennye i gumanitarnye nauki, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 104–120.Pezhemskii, D. V., and Matskovskii, V. V. (2013) O datirovke kladbishcha u Nikol’skogo sobora na Iaroslavovom dvorishche v Velikom Novgorode [On the Dating of the Cemetery near St. Nicholas Cathedral at Yaroslav’s Dvorishche in Veliky Novgorod], in: Vestnik antropologii [Bulletin of Anthropology]. Moskva: Institut etnologii i antropologii RAN, iss. 3 (25), pp. 89–99.Poluboiarinova, M. D. (1991) Ukrasheniia iz tsvetnykh kamnei Bolgara i Zolotoi Ordy [Jewelry Made from Colored Stones of Bolgar and the Golden Horde]. Moskva: Institut arkheologii AN SSSR.Poluboiarinova, M. D. (1994) Poludragotsennye kamni i iantar’ v drevnem Novgorode [Semi-Precious Stones and Amber in Ancient Novgorod], in: Ianin, V. L., and Gaidukov, P. G. (eds.) Novgorodskie arkheologicheskie chteniia. Materialy nauchnoi konferentsii, posviashchonnoi 60-letiiu arkheologicheskogo izucheniia Novgoroda i 90-letiiu so dnia rozhdeniia osnovatelia Novgorodskoi arkheologicheskoi ekspeditsii A. V. Artsikhovskogo. Novgorod, 28 sentiabria – 2 oktiabria 1992 g. [The Novgorod Archaeological Readings. Materials of the Scientific Conference Dedicated to the 60th Anniversary of the Archaeological Study of Novgorod and the 90th Anniversary of the Birth of the Founder of the Novgorod Archaeological Expedition, A. V. Artsikhovsky. Novgorod, September 28 – October 2, 1992]. Novgorod, pp. 75–82.Popov, A. A. (1926) Gornye promysly Solovetskogo monastyria v XVII v. [Mining by the Solovetsky Monastery in the 17th Century], Biulletenʼ Severo-Vostochnogo oblastnogo biuro kraevedeniia, iss. 2, pp. 29–33.Pozhilenko, V. I., Gavrilenko, B. V., Zhirov, D. V., and Zhabin, S. V. (2002) Geologiia rudnykh raionov Murmanskoi oblasti [Geology of Ore Districts in the Murmansk Region]. Apatity: Izdatel’stvo Kol’skogo nauchnogo tsentra RAN.Pushkin, G. Iu. (1971) Ametisty Terskogo berega Belogo moria [Amethysts on the Tersky Coast of the White Sea], in: Freidin, I. L. (ed.) Priroda i khoziaistvo Severa [Nature and Economy of the North]. Apatity, iss. 2, pt. 2, pp. 61–63.Pyliaev, M. I. (1888) Dragotsennye kamni, ikh svoistva, mestonakhozhdenie i upotreblenie [Precious Stones, Their Properties, Location and Use]. Sankt-Peterburg: Izdatel’stvo A. S. Suvorina.Savel’eva, E. A. (1983) Olaus Magnus i ego “Istoriia severnykh narodov” [Olaus Magnus and His History of the Northern Peoples]. Leningrad: Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenie.Savich, A. A. (1927) Solovetskaia votchina XV–XVII vv. (opyt izucheniia khoziaistva i sotsial’nykh otnoshenii na krainem Russkom Severe v Drevnei Rusi). Izdanie Obshchestva istoricheskikh, filosofskikh i sotsial’nykh nauk pri Permskom gosudarstvennom universitete [Solovetsky Estate in the 15th–17th Century (A Study of the Economy and Social Relations in the Far Russian North in Ancient Rus’). Publication of the Society of Historical, Philosophical and Social Sciences at Perm State University]. Perm’: Tipografiia Permpromkombinata.Savostina, V. S., and Savostina, I. A. (1977) Predlozheniia po osvoeniiu mestnoi promyshlennost’iu Murmanskoi oblasti mestorozhdenii ametistovykh shchotok na Terskom poberezh’e Belogo moria [Proposals for the Development of Amethyst Deposits on the Tersky Coast of the White Sea by the Local Industry of the Murmansk Oblast]. Apatity.Scheffer, J. (1673) Lapponia, id est, Regionis Lapponum et gentis nova et verissima description: in qua multa de origine, superstitione, sacris magicis, victu, cultu, negotiis Lapponum, item animalium, metallorumque indole, quae in terris eorum proveniunt, hactenus incognita produntur, & eiconibus adjectis cum cura illustrantur. Francofurtum: Ex officina Christiani Wolffii, typis Joannis Andreae.Severgin, V. M. (1798) Pervye osnovaniia mineralogii ili estestvennoi istorii iskopaemykh tel [The First Foundations of Mineralogy or the Natural History of Fossil Bodies]. Sankt-Peterburg: Pri Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk, book 1.Severgin, V. M. (1809) Opyt mineralogicheskogo zemleopisaniia Rossiiskogo gosudarstva [Experience of Mineralogical Land Description of the Russian State]. Sankt-Peterburg: Pri Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk, pt. 2.Sewerguine, V. M. (1827) Sur l’oxide de fer en forme d’aiguilles qui se trouve sur les Amethystes de l’isle de Kija en Onega, Nova Acta Academiae scientiarum imperialis petropolitanae. Petropolis: Typis Academiae scientiarum, vol. 13, pp. 395–396.Sheffer, I. (Scheffer, J.) (2008) Laplandiia [Lapland]. Moskva: U Nikitskikh vorot.Shirokshin, N. V. (1835) Geognosticheskii obzor beregov Kandalakshskoi guby i Belogo moria do g. Kemi v Arkhangel’skoi gubernii [Geognostic Review of the Shores of the Kandalaksha Bay and the White Sea up to the City of Kem in the Arkhangelsk Province], Gornyi zhurnal, pt. 1, book 3, pp. 397–427.Shtukenberg, I. F. (1858) Statisticheskie trudy [Statistical Works]. Sankt-Peterburg: V tipografii I. I. Glazunova i komp., vol. 1: Opisanie 24 gubernii. Stat’ia 1. Opisanie Arkhangel’skoi gubernii [Description of 24 Provinces. Article 1. Description of the Arkhangelsk Province].Sidorov, M. K. (1881) Sever Rossii [The North of Russia]. Sankt-Peterburg: Tipografiia D. I. Shemetkina, vol. 1: O gornykh ego bogatstvakh i prepiatstviiakh k ikh razrabotke [About Its Mountain Riches and Obstacles to Their Development].Tarabardina, O. A. (2015) Iaroslavovo dvorishche v svete dannykh dendrokhronologicheskikh issledovanii [Yaroslav’s Dvorishche in Light of Dendrochronological Data], in: Novgorodskii istoricheskiy sbornik [Novgorod Historical Collection]. Velikii Novgorod: Izdatel’stvo Novgorodskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, iss. 15, pp. 33–44.Taranovich, V. P. (1934) Puteshestvie akademika I. I. Lepekhina po severu Evropeiskoi Rossii v 1771 i 1772 godakh [Academician I. I. Lepekhin’s Journey of the North of European Russia in 1771 and 1772], in: Arkhiv istorii nauki i tekhniki [Archive of the History of Science and Technology]. Leningrad: Izdatel’stvo AN SSSR, iss. 4, pp. 349–364.Ushakov, I. F. (1972) Kol’skaia zemlia [The Kola Land]. Murmansk: Knizhnoe izdatel’stvo.Vennberg, E. (1926) Anders Bure, in: Boëthius, B. (ed.) Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon. Stockholm: A. Bonnier, vol. 6: Brant – Bygdén, pp. 704–706.Zhuravlev, P. E. (1847) O Rossiiskoi Laplandii, nazyvaemoi Murmanskim beregom, i o proizvodimom pri onom rybnom promysle [On Russian Lapland, Called the Murmansk Coast, and on the Fishery Thereof], Arkhangel’skie gubernskie vedomosti, no. 1, January 4, neofitsial’naia chast’, pp. 6–11.