Anthropological collections of the Suzdal project of the 1850s. The collection fate and the researcher’s reputation

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Abstract

The 1851–1854 excavations of the Vladimir burial mounds conducted under A.S. Uvarov and P.S. Savelyev are known primarily due to the voluminous collections of objects stored in the State Historical Museum. At the same time, very little is known about the fate of the anthropological collection. Based on archival materials and museum catalogues, it was possible to follow the fate of the anthropological collection and understand how external factors of «secondary archaeology» (storage and movement of the collection) influenced the perception of A.S. Uvarov’s works by public. The results obtained made it possible to replenish the sample available for modern study with anthropological materials from eleven medieval burial grounds and expand the series of already studied sites including the burial grounds of large settlements Ves and Shekshovo so significant for understanding the formation of the Suzdal land complexes.

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About the authors

A. N. Fedorina

Institute of Archaeology of the RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: nasfed@yandex.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

M. V. Medvedeva

Institute for the History of Material Culture of the RAS

Email: marriyam@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg

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2. Fig. 1. Excavations at the northern wall of the church in Kideksha. A – reburied bones from the 1851 excavations in excavation area 1 (2011). West view (Sedov, 2011. Vol. 2. Fig. 97). Б – plan of excavations of 1851 (a) and 2011 (б) to the north of the Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb.

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3. Fig. 2. Letter from the Chairman of the IAC Count S.G. Stroganov to Academician K.M. Baer of December 1, 1860 (Scientific Archive of the Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS. F.1. List 1. 1860. Case 31. P. 7).

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4. Fig. 3. Skull No. 18 from the MAE collection 5515. Inscription on the frontal bone reads «Shokshovo», No. 807 in red ink – according to the 1904 catalogue by Yu. Lyudevig, No. 5515-18 in black ink – according to the museum inventory compiled in 1937.

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5. Fig. 4. Skull No. 1 from the MAE collection 5515. Inscription on the frontal bone reads «at Poganoye Lake», No. 5515-1 in black ink – according to the museum inventory compiled in 1937.

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6. Fig. 5. «Map of Yaroslavl Province, Rostov District, Vladimir Province, Pereslavl, Yuryev and Suzdal Districts with the designation of localities in which archaeological excavations were conducted in 1851, 1852, 1853 and 1584» (The State Historical Museum 65397, GO-3662, L. 33). The points where the skulls from the MAE collection come from are marked in pink, with the number of exhibits for each point indicated.

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