A unique exhibit entered the collection of the Pskov Museum-Reserve: as the institution reported, the museum received the archaeological collection of the Kazan 19th excavation site.
Among the items is a “bone sign” of a resident of the Orphanage. The available data allowed us to conclude that, most likely, this sign belonged to a pupil of the St. Petersburg Orphanage (1785-1919).
Photo: Pskov Museum-Reserve
Children were sent to be raised by peasant families in the districts: they studied in rural schools and were subsequently enrolled in the tax-paying classes, mainly the peasantry and philistines.
The Russian writer, journalist, local historian and teacher Anatoly Bakhtiarov wrote about the work of the Orphanage: “If the child is healthy, he lives in the Orphanage for 2-3 weeks and in no case more than 6 weeks. Usually he is equipped in the “experimental department” in the village, in the bosom of nature… The day before departure, the so-called “bone sign” on a white silk cord is put on his neck, which is sealed with the seal of the Orphanage. On one side of the bone sign the pet’s number and the year of its birth are carved, and on the other there is a cross. A bone sign is a round plate of bone the size of two kopecks. Numbers are counted starting from each new year… The sealing procedure is as follows. When they bring traffic tickets, bone signs and laces, the mothers, holding their children in their arms, line up in a “goose” formation, one behind the other, for example, up to 40 people. Then, in turn, they approach the desk, receive a traffic ticket, and put a bone ticket on the child a sign, which is sealed after first checking whether the numbers on the ticket and on the bone sign are the same. These numbers are used to find children in the village and find out if the child is alive. The bone sign is placed around the neck, on a short cord, so that it cannot be removed from the child’s head – in order to avoid abuse… Let’s say that the pet died; then she can put a bone sign on her child in order to receive money for raising her. In addition, the sign is needed so that the nurse can distinguish her pet and not confuse it with someone else’s, since several pets are raised in one village…”
