THE LAND OF PRONCHISHCHEV.

The historical-archaeological expedition of the Adventure Club in the period from July 1 till July 25, 1999 investigated the burial place of the Pronchishchev's married couple, situated in the Ust-Olenek settlement of the Bulunsky region of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

Vasily and Tatiana Pronchishchev participated in the Great North Expedition (1732–1743). Vasily Vasilievich was the chief of the group, working at the coast of the Arctic Ocean between the rivers Lena and Enisey. Tatiana Feodorovna set out on a voyage together with her husband and became the first woman – polar explorer in the world.

In accordance with the historical version the Pronchishchev's died of scurvy and were buried at the mouth of the Olenek River. For almost one hundred years their grave remained without any care, and at the end of the XX century there appeared reasonable questions: who was buried in the Pronchishchev's grave, what was the reason of their death, how did Vasily and Tatiana look like?

The expedition of the Adventure Club set the following objectives:

• Investigation of the burial place of Vasily Pronchshchiv and his wife Tatyana Feodorovna Pronchishchev;
• Ascertainment of the cause of death;
• Creation of portrait images;
• Search of the traces of the Russian trade colony of XVII century.

The excavations were carried out in conformity with the Government of the Sakha Republic (Yakitia), the State Committee of the Russian Federation on the problems of the North, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation, the Federal Frontier Guards Service, the Administration of the Bulunsky region of the Republic Sakha (Yakutia), the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.