К ИСТОРИИ АРХЕОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО ИЗУЧЕНИЯ СОВЕТСКОЙ АРКТИКИ

Abstract

The article presents a brief historiographical review of the first archaeological studies of the Yenisei North. The study presents a description of unknown documents developed by the team of the Arctic Institute in the mid 1940s. The evacuation of the Institute of the Arctic to Krasnoyarsk during the Great Patriotic War increased the attention of its employees to the Krasnoyarsk North. The article publishes «Brief instructions for the registration and protection of archaeological sites of the Soviet Arctic» and «A short questionnaire program for collecting information about the archaeological sites of the Arctic». These documents were identified by the authors in 2022 during the analysis of unprocessed archival materials in the funds of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. The purpose of the study is to introduce the identified archival materials in the historical context of the development the matters of registration and protection the historical and cultural resources in the Russian Arctic. The instruction contains the main types of resources of the native peoples of the North: dwellings and settlements of coastal tribes, settlements of hunters and reindeer herders of the tundra and forest tundra, ancient workshops, fortifications, burial grounds, sacrificial places, rock carvings, remains of fossil fauna, grottoes, caves and sheds in the rocks. Saibs, Arangas and other ancient burial places of pre-Christian times among the Nenets, Yuraks, Nganasans, Yukaghirs, Yakuts are singled out in a special group of resources. They were subject to research only by specialist archaeologists and should were protected. The need to single out resources of the archaeological heritage of the Russian population is emphasized on the example of unique finds in Sims Bay and Thaddeus Island. The section «Recording and protection of archaeological sites of the North» contains regulatory requirements for the identification and registration of the noted types of sites. To characterize them, the Instruction recommends cartographic, field observation, comparative-historical, complex and other methods of study. The transfer of found artifacts and all identified information to the Arctic Institute of the Main Northern Sea Route under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR or its representatives located in the nearest points is regulated. The content of the identified documents ends with a brief questionnaire for collecting information about the archaeological sites of the Arctic.