Sergii Paliienko

Sergii Paliienko

PhD (history), doctoral candidate of the department of archaeology and museum studies Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

ORCID: 0000-0002-6258-7682

Researcher ID: AAQ-5292-2020

DOI: 10.17721/2522-4611.2021.43.6

PROBLEMS OF ETHNIC HISTORY IN THE SOVIET ARCHAEOLOGY IN

THE 1940S – 1960S: DECLARED PRINCIPLES AND FORMS OF

PRACTICAL REALIZATION

Abstract. The background of institualization of the Soviet theoretical archaeology, which was a subdiscipline and phenomenon existing from the early 1970s till the early 1990s, is one of important topics. A study of ethnogeny and ethnic history problems on the base of archaeological data was one of the main features of the Soviet archaeology in the second half of 1940s – 1960s. That’s why it is actual to recognize which main principles were declared in this field, how they were changed and practically realized.

There are no books dedicated to the history of the Soviet archaeology in the 1940s – 1960s or to the mentioned above topic but certain aspects have been studied by scholars. Sources of this research are publications from the journal “Soviet archaeology” including leading articles and documents from scientific archives of the IA NAS of Ukraine and the IHMC RAS.

The Soviet archaeologists started to work under ethnogeny and ethnic history problems in the middle of the 1930s and researches were going on after the WW2. In the Soviet republics complex archaeological and ethnographic expeditions began their activity and joint sessions with ethnographers and linguists were held for the purpose of complex examination of certain ethnic nationalities

Since the beginning of the 1950s an identification of archaeological cultures, determination of their interrelationship and correlation with ancient language communities were defined as the main way to study ethnic history. This approach was used in researches on almost all periods and was actual at the beginning of the 1970s.

Paleoethnologic problematique was important in activity of central archaeological establishments of the USSR and the UkSSR. Archaeologists were authors of fundamental books on the history of certain folks of the USSR. But during the 1960s these problems were scarcely discussing on methodological workshops of the IA AS USSR and its Leningrad branch and there papers on this topic were almost not presented on meetings of the academic council and departments in Leningrad. That time an ethnical interpretation of archaeological cultures became an obligatory part of fundamental archaeological research that’s why there were discussions only on certain problems. But a difference in approaches of scholars and insufficient elaboration of methodological principles for ethnic history studies aroused interest to theoretical issues which was one of causes of the Soviet theoretical archaeology appearance in the early 1970s.

Key words: history of archaeology, Soviet archaeology, archaeology after WW2, main principles, ethnic history, problems of ethnogeny.

Received by the editorial board: 30.10.2020

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