Development of the Culture of Dissertation Research in Archaeology in the Kazan Governorate and the TASSR during the 1910s–1940s

Abstract

This article discusses the development of the culture of dissertation research in archaeology in the Kazan Governorate and the TASSR between the 1910s and 1940s. The central role in this process was played by A.P. Smirnov and N.F. Kalinin, two prominent archaeologists, as well as by V.F. Smolin and M.G. Khudyakov, their predecessors. A.P. Smirnov developed a research passion for studying the archaeology and history of the Volga Bulgaria in the early 1930s, and N.F. Kalinin became interested in exploring the primitive era during the second half of the 1940s. The large-scale excavations of the Suvar and Bolghar (since 1938) settlements offered a solid methodological background for A.P. Smirnov’s doctoral dissertation. In his work, he introduced a new approach to addressing a number of controversial issues, such as the dating of the emergence of the Bolghar settlement, by using archeological data. The outbreak of the war forced A.P. Smirnov to change his plans: he defended his dissertation in Moscow as early as 1944. N.F. Kalinin’s dissertation was based on the archaeological collections of the Neolithic, Bronze, and Early Iron Ages stored at the Kazan Museum; these were the well-known materials with a historiographical tradition. The problems of academic communication during the period before these two dissertations had been defended are addressed. The early stages of institutionalization of this process are analyzed.