THE 1948 NEWSREEL FILM ON THE OB-IRTYSH EXPEDITION OF VALERII N. CHERNETSOV: 70 YEARS ON

Abstract

The article examines the research legacy of Valerii N. Chernetsov, an outstanding researcher of the history and culture of the peoples of Siberia. Different types of research materials and documents produced by Chernetsov are kept at the TSU Museum of the Archaeology and Ethnography of Siberia. These include a newsreel film on the Ob-Irtysh expedition undertaken by him in 1948. The newsreel film was shot by Chernetsov and his wife Vanda I. Moshinskaia. It is a unique video documenting archaeological and ethnographic research conducted in that year as well as the life and spiritual culture of the indigenous population of Western Siberia (the Khanty and the Mansi). The article gives an analysis of the historical background against which the film and other archival materials were produced, examining their current state and composition. Based on a number of sources, among them video titles and the ‘Field Diary’ by Vanda I. Moshinskaia, a description of the materials is presented. It is concluded that these feature fragments of the 1948 newsreel film of the Ob-Irtysh expedition, which is a unique visual source on the history and culture of the Ob River area, indispensable to the archaeological study of Western Siberia.