Alagir Gorge of North Ossetia-Alania: in the footsteps of archaeologist E.G. Pchelina

Author(s):  
Evelina Y. Shestopalova

E.G. Pchelina (1895-1972) belongs to the galaxy of outstanding scientists who laid the foundation of Soviet Caucasian studies. She had a multi-faceted talent as a researcher and left a bright mark in archeology, religious studies, ethnography, folklore studies of the Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia. Most of her works, including those ready for publication, were not published during the scientist’s lifetime. The archive, bequeathed by her to the Academy of Sciences and transferred to LOARAN in 1973 by her daughter-in-law, the highly respected M.L. Pchelina, remained inaccessible until 2019. But the results of her research, reflected in published works and available from Reports of archaeological expeditions and documents in the archives of scientific institutions of North and South Ossetia, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, were known and highly appreciated by archaeologists, ethnographers, historians. References to the materials of her archaeological collections from the Hermitage and museums of North and South Ossetia are often found in the works of modern researchers of the Caucasus. The name of the talented scientist has not been forgotten all these years. However, only now, with the beginning of work on the study of its archival heritage, it became clear what a wide scope of scientific problems is reflected in the unpublished works of the scientist, what global themes of the history of Ossetia have been studied and reflected in the monographs and articles of Evgenia Georgievna. In 2019-2021, scientific events “Bee Readings” were held in St. Petersburg, dedicated to the problems of studying the archival heritage of E.G. Pchelina and timed to the 125th anniversary of her birth. Thanks to the long-term efforts of the staff of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the staff of the Hermitage, the Museum of Ethnography of St. Petersburg, the staff of SOIGSI, the grandchildren of Evgenia Georgievna, Nikolai and Mikhail Pchelin, as well as many people who are not indifferent to the fate and discoveries of Evgenia Georgievna, work with the archive is currently being successfully conducted and gradually reveals the great importance of the research conducted by Evgenia Georgievna in the Caucasus, which will now undoubtedly be known to a wide range of researchers.

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 295-297
Author(s):  
Sergej A. Borisov

For more than twenty years, the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences celebrates the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture with a traditional scholarly conference.”. Since 2014, it has been held in the young scholars’ format. In 2019, participants from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Togliatti, Tyumen, Yekaterinburg, and Rostov-on-Don, as well as Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania continued this tradition. A wide range of problems related to the history of the Slavic peoples from the Middle Ages to the present time in the national, regional and international context were discussed again. Participants talked about the typology of Slavic languages and dialects, linguo-geography, socio- and ethnolinguistics, analyzed formation, development, current state, and prospects of Slavic literatures, etc.


Author(s):  
А.А. Кудрявцев ◽  
С.А. Володин

В 1943–1944 гг. сотрудники Института истории материальной культуры принимали участие в работе Чрезвычайной государственной комиссии (ЧГК). Это выражалось в составлении инструкций по установлению стоимости различных археологических памятников для определения нанесенного им ущерба в период оккупации, составлении их списков и анкетировании. В 1944 г. ИИМК по заданию ЧГК организовал восемь экспедиций в освобожденные районы РСФСР и УССР с целью обследования ряда поселений и курганных могильников, а также музеев с археологическими коллекциями, пострадавших в военные годы. Участие в деятельности ЧГК позволило Московскому отделению ИИМК сохранить основные функции научного учреждения в тяжелый период войны. In 1943–1944 the staff of the Institute for the History of Material Culture was involved in the work performed by the Extraordinary State Commission. The Institute staff prepared guidelines to be used in assessing the value of various archaeological sites to determine the damage caused to the sites during the occupation period, prepared relevant lists and conducted questionnaire-based interviews. In 1944 by order of the Extraordinary State Commission, the Institute organized eight expeditions to the liberated regions of the Russian SFR and the Ukrainian SSR in order to survey a number of settlements and kurgan burial grounds as well as museums with archaeological collections damaged during the war. Involvement in the activities of the Extraordinary State Commission enabled the Moscow Branch of the Institute to continue performing its main functions as a research institution during the hard time of the war.


Author(s):  
Vladyslava Piskizhova ◽  

The purpose of the study is a historiographical analysis of the works of modern Ukrainian historians on the issues of ethnic history of the Greeks of Ukraine, who belong to its oldest and most stable ethnic communities. In this regard, several tasks are set, one of which is to define main thematic areas of these studies and the degree of their analysis. The methodology is based on the scientific principles of historicism and objectivity. Specific scientific methods of historiographic analysis, synthesis, ideographic and other methods were used. Scientific novelty is determined primarily by the fact that this topic within the outlined chronological boundaries has not become the subject of a separate scientific study so far. Conclusions: Development of issues of ethnic history of the Greeks of Ukraine, which was initiated in the studies of scholars from Western European countries and the Russian Empire at the end of the XVIII – XIX centuries and has evolved significantly thanks to the scientific achievements of Soviet historians, received a new impetus in the early 1990s in the works of Ukrainian historians. The emergence of another wave of scientific interest in this topic is associated with the reset of the national historical science after the proclamation of independence of Ukraine, the imperatives of state ethnopolitics, the demands of the Ukrainian public, etc. These developments are based on a wide range of newly discovered sources and are characterized by modern research approaches, rethinking key issues of the problem, developing new theories (primarily on the ethnogenesis of Urums and Roumeans), etc. It is determined that a significant contribution to the study of the issue was made by the staff of the Institute of History of Ukraine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in particular the Cabinet of Ukrainian-Greek Relations (since 2007 – Research Center for Ukrainian-Greek Relations) headed by N.O. Terentyeva. Against the background of a wide variety of issues on the ethnic history of Ukrainian Greeks, which have a fairly high level of development today, primarily in the history of the Greeks of Nizhyn and North Azov region, their national and cultural life in independent Ukraine is the least represented


Author(s):  
Ramazan S. Abdulmazhidov

Materials in the Arabic language, mainly concentrated in Dagestan, occupy the most important place among the sources on the history of the North Caucasus. Its research has started since the 19th century. The academic study of these sources continued with the establishment of the Center of Oriental Manuscripts in 1963 in Makhachkala at the Institute of Language, History and Literature of Dagestan branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In the post-Soviet period, Russian orientalists drew attention to a number of still insufficiently studied Arabic-language sources. The research work revealed more new sources that significantly changed established ideas about social, legal and military-political history of Dagestan. Extensive study and translations of several historical chronicles, a wide range of various sources from the period of the Caucasian War were introduced into scientific circulation. Systematic work is underway to study the epistolary sources kept both in the Fund of Oriental Manuscripts of the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Makhachkala (it includes now thousands of manuscripts and documents) and in numerous private manuscript collections. Studies of Arabic-language written monuments often remain out of sight not only for a wide range of readers, but also for the historians who specialize on the history of the Caucasus. This article devoted to their review and analysis is intended to fill this gap; it summarizes a certain result of enduring research work directed to the study of these manuscripts, carried out in the post-Soviet period.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor' Bocharnikov

The monograph defines the origins, essence and content of the Caucasian policy of Russia, its main stages, its significance for the development of Russian statehood and the peoples of the region. The monograph pays special attention to the Caucasian wars of Russia, the experience of suppressing anti-Russian and anti-Soviet armed demonstrations in the region. The historical and modern experience of the development of the Caucasus region shows that the weakening of Russia's position in the region naturally leads to an escalation of tension and conflict, aggravation of inter-ethnic contradictions, manifestations of extremism and other forms of destructive activities that threaten the life of citizens and peoples of the Caucasus. As a result, the strength of Russia's position in the Caucasus is a guarantee of the safe and free development of the peoples of the region. The author's conclusions and suggestions presented in the monograph can be used in the process of implementing a balanced and verified policy in order to ensure the national security and interests of the Russian Federation in the North Caucasus, building relations with neighboring states in the region, as well as other international actors positioning their involvement in the political processes of the South Caucasus. It is addressed to researchers, teachers, students, a wide range of readers.


Author(s):  
Heather J. Sharkey

This chapter sketches a history of European colonial states in Africa, north and south of the Sahara, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explains when and why colonial states emerged, what they did, how they worked, and who shaped them. Noting discrepancies between the theory and practice of colonial administration, the chapter shows that colonial administration was far more diffuse and less closely coordinated than official discourses of governance suggested. The performance of colonialism involved a wide range of actors: not only European military and civilian elites and African chiefs, but also African translators and tax collectors, as well as European forestry experts, missionaries, anthropologists, and settlers. The chapter also considers debates over reconciling the violence and exploitation of colonial states with their claims to, and aspirations for, social development in Africa, particularly in light of their relationship to the postcolonial states that succeeded them.


Author(s):  
Tatyana P. Filippova ◽  
◽  
Nina G. Lisevich ◽  

On the basis of a wide range of sources, the research analyzes the history of the study of permafrost in the territory of the European Northeast of Russia in the first half of the 20th century. The documentary sources revealed in the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), the National Archive of the Komi Republic (Syktyvkar), the Scientific Archive of the Komi Science Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Syktyvkar), the Vorkuta Museum and Exhibition Center (Vorkuta) are introduced into the scientific use for the first time. The 1920s became the period of the birth of a new scientific direction – permafrostology. This science gave an impetus to the systematic study and development of the North and the Arctic. The beginning of systematic geocryologic studies was connected with the development of the European Northeast in the 1920s–1930s. It has been determined that the USSR Academy of Sciences played the leading role in carrying out these studies: it organized special scientific expeditions for studying the cryolithozone of this region. The main results of the studies and their motives interconnected with the government’s interests in the development of valuable northern mineral resources are shown. The results of the expeditions were conclusions about the possibility of constructing large industrial facilities in the regions of the explored reserves of natural raw material resources. Following scientists’ recommendation, the industrial development of the Pechora coal basin and the colonization of the polar region began. The climatic and natural features of the region demanded stationary scientific research in the field of design and construction. The Vorkuta Research Permafrost Station (VRPS) (1936–1958), created under the supervision of the USSR Academy of Sciences, began to carry out this research. Today, the history of this station’s activities is poorly studied. The article presents the main directions of VRPS research: engineering permafrostology and general issues of permafrost studies. The staff of the station were researchers of the Committee on Permafrost Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences and scientists from among prisoners of GULAG. The role of the staff who made a great contribution to permafrost studies is shown. Under the leadership of the scientists of the station, on the basis of their techniques, large industrial structures of Vorkuta District and Vorkuta, among them the first railroad in the conditions of permafrost, were designed. The conclusion is drawn on the leading role of scientists of the USSR Academy of Sciences in carrying out studies of permafrost soil in the European Northeast in the first half of the 20th century which became the basis in the successful solution of construction problems in the Arctic territory.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 222-236
Author(s):  
K. V. Popov ◽  
N. V. Libina ◽  
M. G. Ushakova

Every year on May 21 in our country is celebrated Polar Day. And not without purpose, because that day in 1937 the world-famous event took place: the four-engine N-170 airplane, piloted by M.V. Vodopyanov, landed on the ice of the Arctic Ocean in the region of the North Pole (89º25’N and 78º40 ‘w.d.). Here began the path of the scientific drifting station North Pole-1. This was the first scientific expedition in the North Pole area, in 274 days it drifted 2,100 km to the southern tip of Greenland (Cape Forvel). More than a hundred books and articles have been written about the history of its creation, the legendary drift, participants and scientific results. First of all, the diaries of the participants should be included here. Reading these books and having an idea of the north by participating in sea expeditions to the Arctic, one involuntarily wonders how people survived and worked in such difficult conditions, about the nature surrounding them and how variable the weather could be above their heads. Comparing the selection of photographs with the diaries of the drift participants, we tried to trace how the situation (landscapes of the drift) changed from the moment of landing and until the removal of the Papanin camp on February 19, 1938. The article is dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the head of the expedition SP-1 – I.D. Papanin. Photo materials for the article are based on the I.D. Papanin handed over to his father K.V. Popov – to Vladimir Ivanovich Popov, who worked under the direction of I.D. Papanin at the Research Institute of Inland Waters of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the village of Borok, and his former friend.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 68-78
Author(s):  
Sergey Alexandrovitch Vasilyev ◽  
Lev Mikhailovitch Vseviov ◽  
Alexander Alexeevich Vybornov ◽  
Dmitriy Vladimirovitch Gerasimov ◽  
Mariya Vladimirovna Medvedeva ◽  
...  

Born in the Murmansk Oblast, Vladimir Ivanovich Timofeyev lived a short but bright and creative life full of scientific research and achievements. As far as studying at the department of Archaeology of Leningrad State University, he chose the Holocene Stone Age as the topic for his research, to which he remained faithful up to the end of life. Working his way up from a laboratory assistant to the head of the Paleolithic Department of Leningrad Institute of Archaeology within the Academy of Science USSR-Institute for the Material Culture History of Russian Academy of Sciences, he proved himself as a purposeful, highly educated specialist who had extensive knowledge in field research, scientific methods and archaeological theory. Excellent memory, analytical abilities and diligence of Vladimir Ivanovich were noted by all colleagues and friends, both Russian and foreign ones, during expeditions and at conferences. The deserved recognition of Vladimir Ivanovich as the greatest expert of the Neolithic Age is unquestionable and it was about to be developed in doctoral thesis. Full sections of this work were discussed many times at the meetings of the Paleolithic Department and the Academic Council of Institute for the Material Culture History and always received the highest appreciation. Unfortunately, a tragic accident cut short the life path of a first-class archaeologist and Vladimir Ivanovich Timofeevs extensive final research devoted to a wide range of Neolithic problems was never completed. Almost 13 years have elapsed since the untimely passing of this talented scientist but the bitterness of loss does not become weaker.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4-2021) ◽  
pp. 190-197
Author(s):  
K. S. Kazakova ◽  

The publication is devoted to the international conference, which is held annually at the S. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of RAS in Saint-Peterburg. In 2021, the conference is dedicated to the anniversaries of A. P. Karpinsky and L. S. Berg. Within the framework of the conference, the St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SPbF ARAN) traditionally organized scientific session “History of archival affairs, archival funds and collections”, the participants of which discussed a wide range of issues related to the peculiarities of the formation and use of archival documents and collections.


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