“HOW THIS ALL BEGAN...”: THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE BASHKORTOSTAN NATIONAL MUSEUM AND THE 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF MIKHAIL KASYANOV
Download PDF Abstract The article overviews the history of archaeology in Bashkortostan from the mid- 19th century until the mid-20th century. At this time, the Bashkortostan National Museum, that was created as the Ufa Provincial Museum, was the regional scientifi c center. The fi rst archaeological explorations in Bashkiria were carried out by R.G. Ignatiev, who was invited by the Ufa Statistical Committee members to Ufa to replenish the museum’s funds with archaeological artifacts. The very fi rst archaeological collections came from K.D. Romanovskiy. At the end of the 19th century, the Museum funds were replenished with random fi nds arrived from the excavations of lovers of antiquity. At the beginning of the 20th century, the fi rst professional excavations were conducted under the guidance of V.V. Golmsten, the Moscow archaeologist, on the territory of Ufa. The materials of her excavations of the Chertovo Settlement and the Ufa necropolis are stored in the Museum. In 1920, the Archaeological Department appeared in the Museum and it was headed by M.I. Kasyanov. The scholar organized a continuous archaeological survey of the territory of Bashkortostan, discovered more than 30 new archaeological sites, and excavated some identifi ed settlements. In 1936, B.A. Koishchevskiy began to work in the Museum. He was a Leningrad archaeologist repressed in Ufa. Together with M.I. Kasyanov he conducted archaeological excavations in the territory of Ufa and was involved in compiling a list of famous archaeological sites. In the 1930s, supported by the Museum A.V. Schmidt, the Leningrad archaeologist, worked in the territory of Bashkiria. P.F. Ishcherikov, the local historian, was also involved in archaeological excavations and explorations of Ufa. During the World War II, M.I. Kasyanov went to the front. B.A. Koishevskiy conducted an inventory of archaeological funds. He was assisted by the D.I. Blifeld, L.D. Dmitrov and E.F. Lagodovskaya, evacuated researchers of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Thanks to these efforts, B.A. Koishevskiy compiled a description of 363 archaeological sites and analyzed all materials with archaeology in Bashkiria. The war years completed the formation of archaeological science in Bashkortostan, when the Bashkortostan National Museum played a leading role in this process. Keywords History of archaeology, Bashkortostan National Museum, Statistical Committee, Ufa Province, Archaeological Department.