Accumulation of Information about Metal Mirrors from Altai Sites and the Formation of a Source Base in the 1920s — the First Half of the 1950s

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of the discovery and study of 20 metal mirrors recorded in the territory of Altai in the 1920s — the first half of the 1950s. It has been established that the vast majority of products come from the monuments of the Scythian period and the Middle Ages. An analysis of the available information about the finds allowed the author of the study to identify several trends that are characteristic of this stage. During this period, the leading museum institutions of the country (the Russian Museum, the State Hermitage, the State Historical Museum) organized a number of large expeditions led by professional archaeologists (S.I. Rudenko, S.V. Kiselev, M.P. Gryaznov). Most of the metal mirrors presented in the publication come from the archaeological complexes investigated by these experts. In addition, there is an active work of employees of local museums (M.D. Kopytov, S.M. Sergeev) in the study of the ancient past of the region. In particular, they assembled a series of metal mirrors that added to the collections of the State Hermitage and the Biysk Museum of Local Lore. Another important trend ofthe designated period was the first theoretical understanding of the findings. Thus, sections related to the cultural and chronological interpretation of metal mirrors found on the territory of Altai appear in the articles and monographs of archaeologists.