Robert Westmacott and Crimean archaeology
Illawarra's Indiana Jones
The Crimean War adventures of Lt. Col. Robert Marsh Westmacott FGS FRGS
The Indiana Jones movies (1981-2023) are iconic representations of the long-held Western tradition whereby a lone archaeologist seeks out ancient treasures from distant lands and brings them "home" to museums and galleries for display and "protection" from grave robbers and mercenary charlatans like themselves. As we look back in time, and proclaim harsh judgement on such activities, the irony here is profound. But let us not slip into that modern default. Rather than looking through a glass darkly, in travelling back to the past we should seek to become au fait with who such adventurers were, and why they did what they did; not layer that past with what we are, and what we think they should have done, or would do in the here and now. History does not work like that, and we have not yet invented a time machine to make it so, despite what 2023's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny may have suggested.
Whilst Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) is a personal favourite, on par with Ray Harryhausen's mythological Jason and the Argonauts (1963), the present author squirms whenever Hollywood deems it necessary, or even funny, to destroy an archaeological site or heritage item, as it did in the 2022 Tom Holland vehicle Uncharted, or any number of other franchises, including Indiana Jones. The British, French, Russians, Germans, Spanish and Portuguese fostered the image of noble and adventurous exploration, going back to the late 1600s. Before that, the Chinese, Greeks and Romans had journeyed in pursuit of knowledge and conquest. We know that the later nation-based expeditions set out to - and I am paraphrasing Captain James T. Kirk here, NOT Captain James Cook - ....explore strange new worlds ... seek out new life and new civilisations .... to boldly go where no Westerner / scientist / explorer has gone before..... (Roddenberry 1966). Of course, the reality was often much darker - less noble and more mercenary, or military. These national endeavours were supplanted in the middle of the 1800s by individual scientists and mercenaries, able to operate with little or no moral or ethical limits to their endeavours - limits which many believed not applicable to them at the time. The Elgin Marble friezes were "saved" from the Parthenon in Greece - aided and abetted by famous British sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott; Inca treasures found new homes in New York and London museums, art galleries and learned society collections; Indigenous skulls, pickled or skinned, found their way to friendly phrenologists on the Continent; and warehouses such as the Louvre in France enjoyed the spoils of the conquest of tyrants such as Napoleon, including the best of the best from Egypt. Who can ever forget the British achievement during the 1920s in discovering the tomb of Tutankhamen, though, thankfully, those spoils remained in their homeland. Such was not the case during the previous century, when antiquities were quickly boxed up and shipped off to London, Paris, Berlin or St. Petersburg. Robert Marsh Westmacott was one such shipper. And why the moniker Illawarra's Indiana Jones? Read on ....
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| Marble lion, 300BC-200BC, British Museum. Donated by Lt. Col. Westmacott, 1856. |
From Ensign to Lieutenant-Colonel
During the 1990s the present author carried out extensive research into the life, times and art of British-born Robert Marsh Westmacott (1801-1870). Links to that research are included at the head of this article. Due to the tyranny of distance, it focused on his time in New South Wales, Australia, between 1831-47 and 1850-1. Therein Westmacott was based with his family for a number of years in the northern Illawarra, at Sandon Point, Bulli, the home of the present author (Organ 1993). The area was located on the coast approximately 50 miles south of Sydney, and allowed Westmacott to engage in numerous agricultural and mercantile activities, whilst he and his wife Louisa raised a family. Unfortunately, their relationship was a stormy one, ending in 1851 when she eloped with a local ship's captain.
Westmacott had a long association with the military, and whilst in Australia went by the title Captain Westmacott. However, he was more of an administrator than a fighting soldier. He signed on with the rank of Ensign in March 1823 and served with the Royal Staff Corps and Quartermaster General's Department of the British Army. Between 1825-26 the now Lieutenant Westmacott was stationed at Mauritius (also known as the Ile de France), as aid to the English Governor Sir Galbraith Lawney "Harry" Cole. Between 1827-37 he served as Aid-de-Camp to Richard Bourke, governor at the Cape Colony (South Africa) and then New South Wales. On 9 September 1828, supposedly whilst still in South Africa, he purchased a commission as Captain in the 98th Regiment, transferring from the Royal Staff Corps. In December 1837 when Bourke returned to England, Westmacott resigned his commission and settled in the Colony, though he subsequently obtained transfers to the 11th and 4th Regiments. These were not operational, but merely reservist and, for a period, on half-pay. He returned home between 1847-50, then back to Australia briefly during 1850-1. Following a tumultuous time in England between 1851-4, during which he found it difficult to gain suitable employment, at the end of 1854 he rejoined the army to serve with the Turkish Contingent of the British army in the Crimean War (5 October 1853 - 30 March 1856). The Allies for this conflict comprised British, Turkish (Ottoman Empire), French and Italian (Sardinia-Piedmont) forces, on land and at sea, united against the Russian equivalent. On 6 May 1855 The Era reported Westmacott's re-enlistment as follows:
The following officers to rank as Brevet-Major from December 12, 1854, but without affecting their previous positions or giving them claim to any backpay viz: Robert Marsh Westmacott Esq late captain 4th Rgt. to have local rank of Major.
Westmacott subsequently received a commission to lead a Turkish Contingent infantry regiment. He would eventually be stationed at Kerch, located in eastern Crimea on the western shore of the Kerch Strait, which connected the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov. Kerch was taken by Allied forces in May-June 1855. This had a devastating impact upon the local population, as a result of damage inflicted by the attacking Allies and retreating Russians. A recent book noted the terror of the time:
With warmer weather returning in the spring of 1855, fighting renewed and spread to the southern and eastern parts of the [Crimean] peninsula. In May and June, the Allies struck at Yalta, Feodosia. They entered the strait of Kerch, bringing widespread destruction to towns along the Azov Sea. The Allies waged economic warfare. Invading soldiers razed homes, and decimated industry. The Russian military, meanwhile, enacted scorched earth policies and destroyed the food it could not relocate. The intensification of violence prompted a new refugee crisis. (Koselsky 2018)
The British soldiers participating in the long-standing siege of Sevastopol to the west of Kerch were not in a good state either, following a ten month long stalemate beginning in September 1854 (Merrill 1956). As a result, the taking of Kerch in the east became a priority, it being the centre of the Russian supply chain. Plans to attack by land and sea were discussed from October 1854 through to 23 May when the assault began, with 16,000 Allied troops shipped from their stinking quarters at Sevastopol to a beach at Kerch. Upon arrival they did not face any opposition, as the Russians retreated, destroying everything they thought useful as they went, including huge stores of grain. The 24 May also happened to be Queen Victoria's birthday, so the Allied soldiers celebrated with vigour:
British, French, Turkish, and Sardinian soldiers, freed from the terrors of Sevastopol, ran amuck and sacked the city of Kerch and neighboring villages. Before officers could check the pillaging, many "homesteads were reduced to ashes"; all public buildings destroyed; locks of "solid brass," hinges, and window fastenings were torn off; sofas, chairs, and "cushions of ottoman" in the governor's house were ripped up. The streets of Kerch "resembled a fair." Some infantry men got drunk and held up parasols, others put on women's clothing and danced jigs, while in every direction men hurried away with bundles under their arms, with furniture on their backs, or staggered under a load of bedding down to the sea wall, where boats were ladened to the twarts with plunder." (Nolan 1857)
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| Burning of government buildings at Kerch, 8 June 1855. |
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| French vandalism in Kerch, 1855. |
By 12 June 1855 the Allies had achieved victory in the Kerch and Sea of Azov campaign, whilst newspaper correspondents had ...spread the terror of the British [army and] navy beyond the confines of Europe. Westmacott was likely present during some of these activities, though we have no precise details of his movements at the time.
Westmacott was accompanied to Kerch by his new wife, the former Miss Julia Holyoake Maitland who, unknown to him for many years, was the already married wife of army captain Edward Ward, therein bearing the name Catherine (Neate 2023). Robert and Julia were married at Greenwich in 1855, just prior to leaving for the Crimea. At the time Westmacott recorded his status as widower, though he was still officially married to his first wife Louise, who was now living in Australia with her sea captain. This bigamous pairing between Westmacott and Maitland was not to last, as the former eventually severed the link upon receiving legal advice as to the status of their union. By the time the Ward divorce case got to court in 1870, Westmacott was dead and saved, as co-respondent, from yet another scandal which it was claimed besmirched the Holy Church and was subversive of public morality.
Robert Marsh Westmacott is very much a bit-player of history. The son of Sir Richard Westmacott, his life was full of highs and lows, and his most notable achievement, outside of helping to raise a family, was the publication of two series of lithographic prints of New South Wales in 1838 and 1848, along with the compilation of a series of sketchbooks during the 1820s through to the 1840s which, though of limited artistic interest, have ethnological, geographic and historic value. He travelled extensively during his seven decades on this earth, visiting Australia, Africa, New Zealand, Mauritius, Abyssinia, the Crimea, and South America, including Brazil during 1858 following his return from the war. He dabbled in art, geology, cartography, geography, ethnography, archaeology, architecture and engineering, including the constructions of roads, bridges and railways. Westmacott's was obviously energetic and full of initiative. However, he could not handle his finances and, as a result, found himself in debtors prison on two occasions - once in New South Wales during 1841, and again in England a decade later (Neate 2023). It seems that on both occasions he required assistance from his father to bail him out. Robert also suffered in marriage, with his first wife leaving him for that Captain Rudge in 1851 and his second bigamist relationship during the 1860s ending disastrously as well. Of course, no specific blame on either side is attributable here, as we do not know the precise circumstances of his relationships with the fairer sex. There exist in the historic record both plaudits and putdowns of the man, but we have no archive of personal diaries or letters to fill him out. The best we can say is that he was a colourful character, at least historically.
The present author, after his initial period of research during the early 1990s, returned sporadically to the subject of Westmacott over the following years, including during the onset of the 2000s in association with preparation of an article describing his New Zealand sketchbook (Organ 2006). All was quiet on the Western, sorry Westmacott front until June 2023 when the major part of this research was transferred from an old, archived website to Blogger.com where it could be updated at will. This was fortuitous, as in early July a Tasmanian colleague sought information concerning Westmacott's activities during the 1840s and his familial relationship to the then visiting English watercolourist and lithographer John Skinner Prout (1805 - 1876). Prout had married a Marsh, and Robert's middle name was the same. Also, his precise place of birth - Sidmouth, Devon - was in dispute. Later that month notice was received regarding the work of local Illawarra historian Lorraine Neate and her publication Misfortune or Fraud? Illawarra and the 1840s Depression (Neate 2023). Westmacott was a notable colonial bankrupt during that period and received a chapter from Neate. In contacting that author, the following was revealed:
I found that Westmacott served in the Crimean War and was a bigamist. He also spent time in jail in England for debt. His wife who ran off with the [ship's] captain died in 1888. (pers. comm. 24 July 2023)
Such juicy information added to the Indiana Jones persona of Westmacott forming in the mind of the present author. Not having previously been aware of the Crimean period of his life, as referred to briefly above, and not able to easily obtain access to Neate's publication at the time, some initial research was quickly undertaken. The pickings were slim, however, and the results, few though they were, are presented within this article. They mainly concern the historical context to his presence in the Crimea during 1855-6. Since its initial writing, however, copies of Neate's findings have been cited and incorporated into the present text where relevant.
Robert Westmacott and Crimean antiquities
During that initial period of research it was discovered that in 2013 and 2016 Edmund Richardson, Professor of Classics at the University of Durham, England, published two books, each of which included an account of some of the Crimean activities of Robert Marsh Westmacott, along with additional aspects of his lively life. As a researcher based in England, Richardson had access to resources not readily available to the present author in Australia, especially during the pre-internet era of the 1980s and 1990s. Of course there has been an unprecedented digitisation of out-of-copyright published resources since then, such as newspapers and scientific journals. Unfortunately, many currently exist behind paywalls, despite the best efforts of Google and the Internet Archive to make then easily accessible to bona fide researchers. Nevertheless, the present author was excited to realise that an academic researcher in Britain had at last shown interest in the life and times of the lesser Westmacott, rather than relying on those in Australia who had pursued the subject on and off since the early 1960s. Hopefully, as a result, some of the conclusions reached, and assumptions previously made by those colonials picking at the bones of an elusive historic figure, could be verified or rejected and a clearer picture of Westmacott revealed. Historical research is, by its nature, an evolutionary process, always limited by the facts at hand. As more come to light, so more truth is revealed, and malevolent or accidental mistruths and mistakes can be cast aside and hopefully forgotten.
Richardson specifically highlighted Westmacott's role in assisting archaeologist, and fellow career soldier, Doctor Duncan McPherson / MacPherson MD, retrieve classical Greek and Roman antiquities from the region of Kerch / Kertch where they were stationed. It was only from July 1855, with the Russians gone and the Allies in control, that the thought of archaeological treasures close at hand became a subject of interest to the invaders, and the British in particular.
Located in present day Ukraine, though illegally annexed by Russia during 2014, Kerch was a Greek colony from the 6th Century BC, with settlement known there from as early as the 17th-15th centuries BC.The Romans also occupied the site. To the now largely idle British commanders, it was an opportunity for discovery and archaeological investigation not to be ignored.
As a result, during 1855-6 Westmacott and some colleagues were appointed by the British government to a committee tasked with securing items for the British Museum. In many ways the Indiana Jones's of their days, they stole / acquired artefacts from tombs, ancient sites and local museum collections, driven by a somewhat misplaced, though real, zeal to preserve and protect them. If this should involve the destruction of such sites, as it often did, or the taking of artefacts from local collections under threat of destruction due to the war then raging, so be it. In this task they were also replicating the work of locals and Russians as the evolving science of archaeology drove them on. Invaders and temporary occupiers of the land, in hindsight the British military forces may appear more like grave robbers rather than heritage angels, though the recent destruction of ancient temples, artefacts and library and museum collections in association with the war in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East, not forgetting the abuse and disregard for such sites and collections elsewhere, including within the West, would suggest that such actions are often warranted. As the Wikipedia entry for Kertch notes:
.....a large number of antique sculptures, reliefs, bronze and glassware, ceramics and jewellery were excavated in 1855-1856 during the Crimean War by Doctor Duncan MacPherson, a surgeon from the British Army, and later donated to the British Museum in London (Wikipedia 2023).
Richardson expanded upon this in his 2013 chapter on the episode, specifically in relation to the work of McPherson and Westmacott:
..... McPherson's fascination with the region's ancient history grew - and, whenever his duties allowed, he began to slip away from town to carry out excavations. He was joined by an equally prickly, equally unsettled companion. Robert Westmacott........ On the outbreak of the war, [Westmacott] accepted a commission in the Turkish Contingent, with the rank of Major, and was placed in charge of one of the Regiments. On garrison duty in Kertch, he and McPherson became close friends, and began to search in earnest for the ancient world ..... Robert Westmacott wanted to help McPherson ship his finds, and those of the army's other soldier archaeologists, back to Britain. While he himself could do little, he knew that his father could do much: having already played a key part in the acquisition of the Elgin Marbles by the British Museum - and having advised the museum on several other additions to its collection, as well as sculpting its monumental pediment. Sir Richard commanded the highest intellectual and political influence. (Richardson 2013)
Westmacott went on to assist in the process of discovering, acquiring and transferring such antiquities from the Crimea to England, encouraged in the task by his father, the famous British sculptor Sir Richard Westmacott (1775 - 1856) and his brother Richard Westmacott the Younger (1799 - 1872). According to the British Museum, some 450 objects from the Crimea were eventually acquired during this period, with the assistance of Robert Westmacott, Dr. Duncan McPherson and Lt. Colonel William Munro (Martin 2019). Some 47 objects (refer Appendix 2 below) are presently listed in the British Museum catalogue as being donated by Lt.-Col. Westmacott, which we can assume was Robert Marsh Westmacott, though MacPherson also refers to him as Major Westmacott in his 1857 book Antiquities of Kertch. Therein the amateur archaeologist noted the following in regards to the important role played by the Westmacott family in securing artefacts from the region during the brief window of opportunity provided by wartime occupation:
The attention of that great sculptor, the late Sir Richard Westmacott, was early attracted to the favourable opportunity which the occupation of the Crimea by the Allied armies offered of securing to England such remains as had escaped destruction in the Museum of Kertch, and his son, who commanded one of the Regiments of Infantry in the Turkish Contingent, warmly seconded his laudable desires. Major Westmacott lost no time in bringing the subject to the notice of General Vivian, then in command at Kertch. But the General being unable to act on his own responsibility, a reference was made to the War Minister.
Lord Panmure promptly issued orders to secure everything of interest, and placed tonnage at the disposal of the General to convey them to England. On this the following order was issued:-
"In consequence of a communication from the War Department, directing the removal to England of any sculptured marbles or valuable relics that have escaped demolition in Kertch, and are worthy of being placed in the British Museum, the Lieutenant-General has appointed Dr. McPherson, Major Crease, and Major Westmacott, a committee to decide on the value of such relics as may be remaining." (MacPherson 1857)
Forty seven items were then listed by MacPherson, and it is these that are presently attributed to Lt. Col. Westmacott in the British Museum collection. The following illustrations from the book and the British Museum catalogue present one such example, comprising a marble frieze featuring two tritons and a dolphin.
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| Page from MacPherson (1857) listing items donated by Major Westmacott, including a marble frieze featuring two Tritons and a dolphin. |
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| Frieze, 250BC - 100 BC, British Museum, listed as donated by Lt. Col. Westmacott, 1856. |
Following the end of the Crimean war, large collections of similar antiquities were to be found in both local and Russian museums. A summary account by the Russian A. Poslykhalin of the wartime excavations and grave robbing is presented below as an appendix.
In accounts of the time seen by the present author, there is some confusion between the various Westmacott's involved in these activities. Whilst the father was initially part of the British drive to secure relics, he died in 1856 and it appears that around this time his son, Richard the Younger, who was also a sculptor, took up the cause in England whilst his brother was still serving overseas. Robert was obviously the one present on the ground in the Crimea, working with MacPherson and Munro. However, back home in London it is unclear who the actual Westmacott it was who stood up at the meeting of the Archaeological Institute on 5 December 1856 and, following a presentation by MacPherson on his work in Kertch:
.... Mr. Westmacott offered some remarks ... on the interesting features of these discoveries, as illustrated by Mr. Kell's admirable drawings.... (Anonymous 1857)
We can assume that it was Robert, he having been intimately involved in the retrieval and dispatch of objects, and returned home by that stage. His also appears to have been the member of the family most interested in, and committed to, scientific endeavour. At the time of re-publication of his own 1848 series of Australian lithographic prints during 1852, Westmacott, unlike his father and brother, and though an amateur artist himself, revealed an ongoing interest in the earth sciences, including archaeology and ethnology, therein citing himself as "F.G.S" (Fellow of the Geological Society) and "F.R.G.S" (Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society). This interest had revealed itself during his time in Australia. At one point in the late 1830s he had attempted to open a coal mine on his property at Bulli. He was also an experienced cartographer.
Archaeology as a subject of interest was not pursued in the Colony during his residence there, at least by the British. The local Indigenous population did not produce obvious archaeological relics such as were seen outside of Australia in the form of large structures built of stone and other durable materials. For example, Aboriginal burials were usually unmarked, or on rare occasions found associated with earthen mounds and tree markings. This was not the case in the Crimea, where marble and stone headstones and associated burial chamber and tomb artefacts were associated with previous periods of occupation. Westmacott was nevertheless interested in aspects of the local Aboriginal ethnography and recorded aspects of it, in the form of drawings and possible collection of contemporary artifacts such as spears, shields and other domestic implements, all of which featured in his art. His expertise in areas of science and as a merchant and ship owner would have been useful to MacPherson and others as they sought to ship antiquities from the Crimea to England without loss or damage. In this latter task he was obviously successful.
As a postscript to Westmacott's Crimean episode, The London Gazette of 2nd March 1858 published notice of the award by Queen Victoria of the Order of the Medjidie 4th Class to Major Robert Marsh Westmacott, late 4th Regiment, for his services in the Crimean War.
The Crimean episode once again adds to the colourful tapestry that is the life and times of Robert Marsh Westmacott. To the present author located far away in Antipodean Australia, Westmacott is intriguing and notable. For those back in his homeland of Great Britain he remains the errant son of a great artist, and will perhaps ever be so, pending the discovery of a treasure trove of manuscript material which reveals what he actually thought of his own experiences. For only then can we determine whether Watty was rogue or warrior, or both.
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Appendix 1
Calendar of Dates 1853-1857
1853
* 5 October 1853: Britain enters the war against Russia, on the side of the Ottoman Empire (Turkish) and French allied forces.
1854
* 14 September 1854: Allied forces land at Eupatoria, eastern Crimea, and march south, to commence a siege on Sevastopol from October 1854 through to September 1855.
* October 1854-1855: The French carry out archaeological investigations at the Greek temple site of Chersonesos near Sevastopol. Material is shipped to the Louvre.
* 12 December 1854: Robert Westmacott enlists as Brevet-Major in the British Army. He is assigned in charge of a regiment of the Turkish Contingent fighting in the Crimean War.
1855
* early 1855: Major Westmacott arrives in the Crimea at the siege of Sevastopol and observes the French archaeological activity at Chersonesos. He informs his father Sir Richard Westmacott of this and the British set up a committee to support their own research and collection of Crimean antiquities.
* 24 May 1855: A 16,000-strong corps of Allied troops land on the Kerch Peninsula, near the city of Kerch.
* May - November 1855: Captain McPherson, Major Westmacott and other British officers begin the collection of antiquities from the Kerch region, along with archaeological excavations. Assistance is provided by soldiers of the Turkish Contingent regiments and locals.
* November - 14 December 1855: Archaeological excavations are carried out near Balaklava by Lt. Colonel William Munro of the 39th Regiment.
* Winter of 1855-56: Excavations by McPherson and others in the Kerch region are halted due to the cold weather conditions.
1856
* March 1856: McPherson excavations in the Kerch region recommence at a large mound near Cape Enikale, with the assistance of two detachments, comprising six hired Armenian workers
and soldiers of Major Campbell's 71st Regiment.
* 30 March 1856: A peace treaty is signed between Russia and the Allied forces of Britain, France and Turkey. Crimean War ends.
* April - June 1856: British excavations move to the Five Brothers collection of mounds south west of Kerch, with the assistance of crew from the Snake. The third site was the northern slope of Mount Mithridates. The Russians complained, but McPherson continued.
* July 1856 (?): British archaeological excavations in the Kerch region cease as the army pulls out.
* August 1856: Forty seven antiquities are despatched from Kerch and deposited with the British Museum by Lt. Col. Robert Westmacott.
1857
* 1857: The Committee for the Evaluation of Archaeological Values is discontinued following the arrival of archaeological relics in Britain.
* 1857: Doctor McPherson publishes Antiquities of Kertch, and researches in the Crimmerian Bosphorus on the ethnological History of the Crimea, with Remarks on the ethnological and physical history of the Crimea.
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[Article translated from the Russian which outlines the Russian and Allied forces archaeological activities in the Crimea during 1854-57. Originally published in 2012.]
Appendix 2:
Archaeological excavations of the interventionists in the Crimea during the Crimean War of 1853-1856
A. Poslykhalin
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| Funery stele, Greek and Roman relief, 50BC - 50AD, British Museum, 1856-0710.24. |
In the guide “Crimea”, published by a group of scientists and local historians in Simferopol in 1914, on page 433, I came across the following remark: “In the Crimean campaign in Chersonesos stood and dug the French, who took with them what they could. After that, the excavations were random."[1] Without going into the ethical and political issues associated with the removal of historical and cultural monuments, I tried to find more specific information about the history of the organization of these excavations, who conducted them, where exactly and what was discovered during their conduct. The result was far from uninteresting.
In 1854-1856, the Crimean Peninsula was the scene of a fierce Crimean war between the Russian Empire and a coalition of states, which included France, Britain and Turkey. On 24 May 1855, a 16,000-strong corps of enemy troops landed on the Kerch Peninsula, near the city of Kerch. At noon the next day, without encountering serious resistance, the interventionists occupied the city left by the Russian troops.
In the first days after the beginning of the war, the director of the Kerch Museum of Antiquities, founded in 1826, Alexander Efimovich Lutsenko (1806-1884), sent the most valuable things to St. Petersburg, but many relics still remained in place. In the first days after the occupation of Kerch, the museum was subjected to barbaric looting.
Note that in the above guide, the excavations in the Crimea are attributed to the French contingent. Also, describing the occupation of Kerch by the enemy, and the circumstances preceding the Crimean campaign, I. Voronov wrote: "The surroundings of Kerch and Mount Mithridates towering over it are rich in graves, mounds and underground catacombs, hiding in their bowels the ashes of the nobles with their rare expensive jewelry, military armor, vestments, coins and objects of worship and their household use. All this was known both in Russia and abroad; however, the excavations of the described rarities by Russian archaeologists were carried out not particularly diligently and very slowly, and until 1855 the Russian shovel had not yet touched many graves and mounds, which gave the enemy the opportunity during his short stay in Kerch, to engage in thorough excavations and extract many rare and valuable finds taken by them with them, which are now stored in the museum of Paris. Meanwhile, before the Crimean War, the French intensively worked on granting them the right to excavate Kerch antiquities on certain conditions, with an annual fee to our treasury of a significant rental amount. Such a proposal was considered unacceptable, and the French, as if in retaliation, took advantage of the occupation of Kerch, hurriedly engaged in excavations of antiquities and acquired for free what they had previously voluntarily agreed to pay for. [2]. However, about the excavations of the French in the Crimea, clarifying information could not be found, which can not be said about the impressive corpus of documentary and memoir nature of the data concerning the excavations carried out in the Crimea by representatives of the British military contingent.
During the entire period of the occupation of Kerch in the city, among other Englishmen was Dr. Duncan MacPherson (McPherson, 1812-1867), who was a member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. After graduating from the medical faculty of the University of Edinburgh, Duncan MacPherson from 1836 served as a military surgeon in Madras (India), and in 1840-1842 in the 37th Grenadier Regiment in China. After that, he was again transferred to the Hyderabad contingent of British troops in India and at the beginning of the Crimean War, on the recommendation of his former commander Lord Gough, MacPherson was appointed chief inspector of hospitals of the Turkish contingent of coalition troops.
From October 1855 to June 1856, MacPherson devoted all his free time to excavations in the Kerch area on the Cimmerian Bosphorus, which we will describe in detail below. At the end of the war, the finds of the doctor were transferred to the British Museum and caused a great resonance in the scientific world.
After returning to England, McPherson made a number of reports on his excavations in Kerch, which were published in 1857 in several editions: "Journal of the Royal Geographical Society", "Notes of the Royal Society of Literature of Great Britain", "Yearbook of Scientific Discoveries: Facts of Science and Art", "Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology", "Gentlemen's Journal". Finally, in the same year, 1857, MacPherson’s book “Antiquities of Kerch” was published in London with a full and detailed report on archaeological excavations on the Kerch Peninsula.
It is worth adding that after the Crimean campaign, MacPherson was awarded the Ottoman Order of Medjidie and appointed chief inspector of the medical service of the Indian city of Madras. His vigorous activity in this post attracted the attention of Queen Victoria and in 1858 MacPherson was appointed Honorary Physician of Her Majesty. He died of a fever on 8 June 1867, leaving three sons.
From the beginning of November to 14 December 1855, excavations were carried out near the English headquarters near Balaklava by the Englishman William Munro (Munro, 1818-1880), who was a colonel of the 39th Infantry Regiment. William Munro began his military career at the age of 16, on January 20, 1834, entering the rank of ensign in the 39th Infantry Regiment, which lived in Bangalore (India), where the young man spent the next 5 years of his life. Showing an interest in botany, he collected a valuable collection of plants, to this day stored in the library of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. On December 29, 1843, at the Battle of Maharajpur, Lieutenant Munro was wounded. After spending nearly 14 years in India establishing a botanical garden at Agra, Monro returned to England in mid-1847. Around 1849, his regiment was transferred to Ireland, and on 11 November 1853, Lieutenant Colonel William Munro assumed command of the 39th Infantry Regiment.
Arriving in the Crimea on the eve of the new 1854 on the steamer "Golden Fleece", the 39th regiment took part in the siege of Sevastopol, spending more time in the trenches. Here Munro continued his passion for botany and soon he had the opportunity to prove himself as an archaeologist. The circumstances of the beginning of the excavations at Balaklava are described by one of the first war correspondents in history, William Howard Russell (1820-1907) and are given in MacPherson's book. On October 26, 1855, in the vicinity of Balaklava on Mount Kol (Kuchuk-Kol-Burun?, Biyuk-Kol-Burun?), soldiers of the 39th regiment collected stones for the construction of the Balaklava Railway and discovered an ancient round stone structure. The building by that time was already significantly destroyed standing here shortly before the camp of the French cavalry. Separate stones were used by the French for the construction of a barracks and kitchen.
One of the soldiers found an old coin and brought it to the camp, handing it to Lieutenant Nash, who in turn took it to Captain Patton of the same regiment. The latter gave the coin to Colonel William Munro, who, according to the correspondent, was an “antiquarian.” Turning to the stake, Colonel Monro obtained permission to use 50 soldiers of his regiment daily to excavate the ruins on the mountain.
During the excavations, Munro’s soldiers found eight or ten copper coins of the same type as the first with a cruciform images on both sides, shards of various vessels with stamps similar to Arabic ligature, animal bones and part of a sculptural image of a person.
However, the purpose of the round in terms of construction remained in question. According to Russell, "Colonel Munro decided that he had excavated the Greek temple, that the ceramic jars filled the sacrificial blood, flowing down the grooves on the two blocks, which, according to the colonel, were altars for sacrifice."
In addition, a number of marble and sandstone tombstones with low relief images were found nearby. The first was a female figure in a long robe with a child. On the second was a man on a horse with a child leading a horse under the knots. On the third plate was a man lying on the bed with two children on both sides of the bed. The fourth is a woman with children.
Munro’s findings, subsequently transferred to the British Museum, belonged to the period between the III-II centuries BC and the II-III centuries AD.
Under Munro's leadership, excavations continued until December 14, 1855, when he left for England. However, according to W. Russell “and although he himself left home, the research he began continues...” [4].
At the end of the campaign, Monroe received the rank of colonel and was awarded the Order of the Bath (2 January 1857), the Order of the Legion of Honor and the Turkish Order of the Mejidieh of the 4th class. On 1 May 1856, the 39th Regiment left Crimea and was transferred to Canada.
Soon the finds of Munro attracted the attention of the famous English sculptor Richard Westmacott (1775-1856), through his son Major [Robert Westmacott], who commanded one of the units of the Turkish troops. Also the famous sculptor Richard Westmacott Jr. (1799-1872) drew the attention of the command of the Allied armies to the excellent opportunity to enrich European museums with antique relics.
Not wasting time, Westmacott addressed this question to General Robert John Hussey Vivian (1802-1887), at that time commander of the Turkish contingent of troops in Kerch. The General, who did not venture to assume responsibility, conveyed his request to the Minister of War, Lord Fox Panmure (1801-1874), who soon issued the following order: “In accordance with the order of the War Office regarding the transfer to England of marble sculptures and valuable relics that survived the destruction of Kerch and are worthy of placement in the British Museum, the Lieutenant General appoints a committee consisting of Dr. McPherson, Major Chris (Crease) and Major Westmacott to determine the value of the preserved relics.” In addition, Panmur ordered to provide the necessary tonnage on allied ships to transport antiquities to England.
Since that time, Dr. Duncan MacPherson enthusiastically began his own excavations in Kerch, but the cold winter of 1855-1856 suspended work due to freezing of the soil. MacPherson did not return until March 1856. The first object of excavation was a large mound six miles from Kerch towards Cape Enikale.
Two detachments, each of which consisted of six hired Armenian workers and soldiers of Major Campbell 71st Her Majesty's regiment, began to lay tunnels to meet each other from different sides of the mound. The frozen ground complicated the tasks of diggers. After some time in the center of the mound they found several broken amphorae. Continuing the excavation down two meters, MacPherson excavated a vertical beam around which animal and human bones were found. In addition, fragments of an ancient urn were found here, as well as a female head of pure gold (an inch in length), gold earrings and bracelets. Further excavations revealed beads, fragments of glazed porcelain, a copper coin depicting the head of Pan on one and a Phanagorian lion on the reverse.
The second object of excavations was the mound group "Five Brothers" southwest of Kerch (in the direction of Cape St. Paul). In one of the mounds was found a stone sarcophagus with animals and human bones and the remains of a wooden coffin. A similar finding was found in the second mound. The third was robbed. In the next mound were found ceramic unglazed vases, and bronze figures of Greek work. The last mound was located seven miles from Kerch near the landing site of the allied forces near Kerch on 24 May 1855. It took the British two months to excavate this mound group.
Then excavations began on a space two miles long, stretching from Mount Mithridates to the royal mound Altyn-ob. The first pits brought researchers interesting finds in the form of amphora pens with label inscriptions, fragments of terracotta figurines and a small number of copper coins. Human bones were also found with traces of fractures and injuries. In addition, an underground pipeline was found to supply water to the acropolis and amphorae from burnt clay. In one of the many tombs opened by MacPherson, soldiers of Her Majesty's 71st Regiment found large ornamented unglazed vases of burnt clay and five bowls of glass.
Then the work was transferred to the northern slope of Mount Mithridates, where the archaeologist discovered an impressive number of burials of people and horses. Due to the lack of wood for structures that would support the vaults of deep mines, MacPherson used wooden doors and beams of civilian houses of Kerch. The first experiments of deep drilling did not give the expected results, but soon catacombs were discovered with a number of underground chambers and many human burials with clay oil lamps and some bronze and silver jewelry, fibulas and antique glassware.
On 30 March 1856, a peace treaty was signed between the Russian Empire and a coalition of the British, French and Ottoman Empires. However, this circumstance did not affect the course of the work of the MacPherson group. Excavations continued. In the shortest possible time, the British opened two more tombs at a depth of 12 meters from the surface of the earth. The bones of two adults, two children (inside the amphorae) and a horse were found surrounded by amphora shards, various clay and glass vessels and many sheep bones. Also found were crucibles for smelting copper products. After eight days of continuous excavation, part of the mine collapsed. To help the archaeologists came sailors from the English ship “Snake” under the command of Captain Commerell (Commerell). In the near future, the skeleton of a woman with copper jewelry and 11 skeletons without relics were discovered. Digging into the mine, the skeleton of a horse was excavated, followed by six more male skeletons. After them, the burial of a married couple with an amphora containing the remains of a child was discovered.
Learning that archaeological excavations were continuing, the Russian command appealed to MacPherson with a demand for their immediate cessation. After his refusal, the Russian authorities filed a formal complaint. According to MacPherson, the complaint contained an indication that the archaeologist allegedly exhumed the remains of the recently deceased Russian soldiers.
Giving, however, due to the interest that the Russian government showed to the excavations of Kerch before the Crimean War, MacPherson, wanting to somehow justify the fact of carrying out his excavations and removal of archaeological treasures, wrote in his book: “Russian vandalism erased all traces of the majestic ruins that previously existed here: the walls of the ancient city [meaning Kerch] were erased from the face of the earth and all its monuments were destroyed. Since the Russians took possession of the Crimea, they have completely destroyed all the ancient remains of its former greatness; its beautiful architectural structures have been pilfered on building material for their huge dull barracks.
The Committee for the Evaluation of Archaeological Values, established by the Minister of War, selected 46 relief images, fragments of architectural ornaments and sculptures (a list is given in MacPherson's book), and after their transportation to England in 1857, the committee’s powers came to an end.
The findings of the groups of D. MacPherson and W. Munro were included in the collection of the British Museum. MacPherson was pleased to complete the description of this with the words: “at last the relics reached a safe harbor.”
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Appendix 3:
List of Items Donated by Lt. Col. Westmacott to the British Museum
The following specimens of antique sculpture were transmitted to the British Museum by The Committee for the Evaluation of Archaeological Values. After which, their joint operations under official authority came to a close (McPherson 1857):
1. TWO FIGURES ON HORSEBACK, A PERSON OF RANK AND ATTENDANT.
2. RECUMBENT FIGURE, WITH RELIGIOUS CEREMONY BELOW.
3. TWO FIGURES, ONE SITTING AND ONE RECUMBENT , WITH ATTENDANTS.
4. PART OF A RECUMBENT FIGURE; RELIGIOUS OR FUNEREAL CEREMONY BELOW; THIRD COMPARTMENT - ARMED GUARDS WITH SHIELDS AND SPEARS.
5. TWO FIGURES ON HORSEBACK.
6. SITTING FEMALE FIGURE, WITH ATTENDANT
7. FEMALE FIGURE, WITH ATTENDANT.
8. MALE FIGURE, WITH ATTENDANT.
9. MALE FIGURE ON HORSEBACK ( WITH GREEK INSCRIPTION ).
10. FRAGMENT OF FEMALE FIGURE.
11. THE MEETING OF TWO FEMALE FIGURES OF DISTINCTION, WITH FLOWING DRAPERY.
12. FRAGMENTS OF FEMALE FIGURE.
13. FIGURE OF PERSON OF CONSEQUENCE, SEATED IN A STATE CHAIR, WITH ATTENDANTS IN WAITING.
14 . A FEMALE FIGURE, WITH ARM EXTENDED, APPARENTLY TAKING LEAVE OF TWO ARMED MEN.
15. MALE FIGURE, SEATED IN STATE, EVIDENTLY RECEIVING INTELLIGENCE FROM ARMED MOUNTED MEN , THE RESULT PROBABLY OF SOME ENGAGEMENT.
16. FRAGMENT OF FIGURE ON HORSEBACK , ARMED WITH SCYTHIAN BOW AND QUIVER - WEAPONS NOT USUALLY REPRESENTED ON GRECIAN BAS - RELIEFS
17. FRAGMENTS - TWO FEMALE FIGURES AND CHILD.
18. FIGURE ON HORSEBACK.
19. HANDSOME SCROLL, VERY PERFECT.
20. MAN ON HORSEBACK, WITH FLOWING GARMENTS.
21. MALE AND FEMALE FIGURE.
22. MARBLE SCROLL.
23. FEMALE FIGURE AND CHILD (WITH GREEK INSCRIPTION ).
24. SCROLL, VERY ORNAMENTAL.
25. FEMALE FIGURE AND TWO CHILDREN.
26. MALE FIGURE TAKING LEAVE OF A FEMALE ACCOMPANIED BY A CHILD.
27. SIMILAR SUBJECT TO No. 27 [?26].
28. FRAGMENT OF THE CAPITAL OF A COLUMN.
29. SLAB WITH GREEK INSCRIPTION.
30. A FIGURE SEATED IN STATE, WITH ATTENDANT.
31. PART OF A FEMALE FIGURE LEANING ON A COLUMN, WITH ATTENDANT.
32. SCROLL.
33. HANDSOME SCROLL.
34. MARBLE SLAB, WITH TWO TRITONS; ONE WITH WINGS, THE OTHER CARRYING A TRIDENT IN HIS LEFT HAND. A SMALL DOLPHIN REPRESENTED BETWEEN THE FIGURES.
35. FRAGMENT OF FEMALE FIGURE , WITH ATTENDANT.
36. PART OF A FIGURE.
37. MALE FIGURE, WITH ATTENDANT.
38. FEMALE FIGURE RECLINING, ATTENDANT.
39. FRAGMENT OF GREEK MOULDING.
40. ORNAMENT.
41. DITTO.
42. FRAGMENT OF FEMALE FIGURE.
43. MAN IN ARMOUR ON HORSEBACK.
44. MAN ON HORSEBACK, WITH FIGURE AND DOG FOLLOWING.
45. FEMALE FIGURE IN CHAIR OF STATE, WITH ATTENDANT.
46 AND 47. COLOSSAL FIGURES IN WHITE MARBLE OF LION AND LIONESS.
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Last updated: 8 September 2023
Michael Organ, Australia
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