Abstract
In this paper I examine the impact of politics on archaeological science during the Russian Empire. In particular, I focus on the how the state influenced both the forms and ways of organizing archaeological research in Russia and the choice of topics and areas of research during the aforementioned period. Two levels of analysis are considered. First, I examine the impact of Russian domestic policy on the organization of various Russian archaeological congresses, whose topics and venues were largely determined by the priorities of imperial national politics. Second, I analyze the impact of Russian foreign policy on the establishment of archaeological institutions in countries where Russian archaeological research was carried out, which comprised territories that coincided and correlated to Russia’s aims abroad, such as the Balkan States and Central and East Asia. The interaction between political power and archaeological science during the Russian Empire appeared in the personal views and attitudes of scientists, who were often guided by the interests of state ideology and policy. As my analysis seeks to demonstrate, the archaeological community was loyal to the powers in charge and supported the Russian Empire’s state doctrine.
Highlights
Historians of archaeology in the 1980s began to be concerned with examining how certain political contexts influence the interpretation of archaeological data
Alain Schnapp and others set the agenda for this new history of archaeology, making ‘nationalism’ and ‘imperialism’ the two main topics of historiographical research at the end of the 20th century (Schnapp 1977; Trigger 1980, 1984; Bray & Glover 1987)
In the context of this research, this article explores how archaeology during the Russian Empire was influenced by state power, how the scientific community was directed by state bureaucracy and influenced into the state system
Summary
Historians of archaeology in the 1980s began to be concerned with examining how certain political contexts influence the interpretation of archaeological data. The Russian state paid attention to archaeological remains since the beginnings of the Empire (1721) This interest was first guided by mercantile ideas; by the 18th-19th centuries, archaeological research was being increasingly considered by Russian society and the state power as a provider of valuables and a source for museum collections. Scientific provincial archival commissions, which had been working for more than 30 years (since 1884 to 1918), became the successors of provincial statistical committees in the field of studying the archaeological antiquities and ancient history of provincial Russia. These commissions were social and governmental institutions created by the Department of Foreign Affairs and were responsible to the Department of National Education. In the course of this process, the organization of archaeological science in Russia moved from the sphere of public institutions to the area of public scientific associations
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