Archaeological Museum Research Articles

Hitherto Unknown Technology of Bronze Age Inlay

Daggers discovered at Tserovani cemetery of the Bronze Age - prominent specimens of decorative-applied art selected for the new exhibition of the Museum of Archaeology of the State Museum-Reserve of Greater Mtskheta – were submitted to the restoration-research laboratory of archaeological and ethnographic objects of S. Janashia Museum of Georgia of the Georgian National Museum because of repeated corrosion in some areas. Dagger N7232 is composed and its handle is abundantly incrusted with vitreous mass. Most of the incrustation is produced with the method of melting vitreous mass inside a metal cutting. A strange exception is white circular inlay against blue background situated in three triangular cuttings. One of incrustations is damaged. The remnants were found in the cut of damaged incrustation were the vitreous mass and small grey, tubular rods made of 94% tin and 4% copper alloy (pewter) fitted in a wooden remnant. Research allowed us to interpret presumable methods and prominence of producing incrustation: white glass embedded in circular silver partitions against the background of blue glass. The analyses showed that the dagger was made from the typical for the late bronze period alloy- tin bronze. The artefacts, with all signs of historical development (technology, decoration methods, and ornamental motives) belong to the Colchian culture and can date in frame of this culture. Based on the presently available data it can be stated that we are dealing with a completely new technology unknown up to present and that it can be regarded as predecessor of the cloisonne incrustation.

“The just judgements that Ḫammu-rāpi, a former king, rendered”: A New Royal Inscription in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums

Abstract This article publishes a royal inscription preserved on a clay tablet housed in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums. The inscription, which was intended for display on a stele, commemorates a royal grant of tax exemptions to nine Babylonian cities and presents the royal protagonist as a second Ḫammu-rāpi. The name and titulary of the king in question are not preserved, and the attribution of the inscription is accordingly uncertain. Following Jean-Vincent Scheil’s attribution of the text already in 1902, the study that accompanies an edition of the text argues that it should be attributed to Nabonidus, king of Babylon 556–539 BC, and explores its historical significance in this context.

A Methodology for the Multi-Point Characterization of Short-Term Temperature Fluctuations in Complex Microclimates Based on the European Standard EN 15757:2010: Application to the Archaeological Museum of L'Almoina (Valencia, Spain).

The monitoring and control of thermo-hygrometric indoor conditions is necessary for an adequate preservation of cultural heritage. The European standard EN 15757:2010 specifies a procedure for determining if seasonal patterns of relative humidity (RH) and temperature are adequate for the long-term preservation of hygroscopic materials on display at museums, archives, libraries or heritage buildings. This procedure is based on the characterization of the seasonal patterns and the calculation of certain control limits, so that it is possible to assess whether certain changes in the microclimate can be harmful for the preventive conservation of artworks, which would lead to the implementation of corrective actions. In order to discuss the application of this standard, 27 autonomous data-loggers were located in different points at the Archaeological Museum of l’Almoina (Valencia). The HVAC system (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) at the museum tries to reach certain homogeneous environment, which becomes a challenge because parts of the ruins are covered by a skylight that produces a greenhouse effect in summer, resulting in severe thermo-hygrometric gradients. Based on the analysis of temperatures recorded during 16 months, the air conditions in this museum are discussed according to the standard EN 15757:2010, and some corrective measures are proposed to improve the conservation conditions. Although this standard is basically intended for data recorded from a single sensor, an alternative approach proposed in this work is to find zones inside the museum with a homogeneous microclimate and to discuss next the average values collected in each area. A methodology is presented to optimize the application of this standard in places with a complex microclimate like this case, when multiple sensors are located at different positions.

A Methodology for the Multi-Point Characterization of Short-Term Temperature Fluctuations in Complex Microclimates Based on the European Standard EN 15757:2010: Application to the Archaeological Museum of L'Almoina (Valencia, Spain)

A Methodology for the Multi-Point Characterization of Short-Term Temperature Fluctuations in Complex Microclimates Based on the European Standard EN 15757:2010: Application to the Archaeological Museum of L'Almoina (Valencia, Spain)

The First Neolithic Occupation of La Cova del Randero (Pedreguer, Alicante, Spain)

Abstract The excavations at “Cova del Randero” (Pedreguer, Alicante, Spain) began in 2007 within the programme of archaeological interventions of the Archaeological Museum of Alicante. The cavity, located in one of the valleys that connect the coast with the inland mountains, presents a wide sequence of occupations that begins in the Upper Palaeolithic and continues throughout the different phases of the Neolithic. The results of a multidisciplinary study, carried out in an archaeological context associated with the first Neolithic presence of the cavity, are presented here. This occupation is defined by a unique combustion structure to which a set of artefacts and biofacts are linked. This archaeological context, probably of a specific nature, is related to the first agro-pastoral communities settled in the area. The fireplace is well defined stratigraphically and sedimentologically because of its reddish soil, which corresponds to hunter-gatherer occupation levels of the cavity, and under the greyish sediments that characterise the use of the cave as a fold during the Middle Neolithic. This occupation event was dated both by the associated materials, among which a fragment of cardial ceramic was found, and by radiocarbon dating of a metacarpus of Ovis aries around 5075–4910 cal BC (epicardial Early Neolithic). This data allows us to link the occupation of the cavity at this time with pastoral activity in a medium mountain environment. However, it also allows us to infer the environmental characteristics in which the first farming communities of the mountains of Alicante were developed.

An innovative approach for provenancing ancient white marbles: the contribution of x-ray diffraction to disentangling the origins of G\xf6ktepe and Carrara marbles

The paper presents a very efficient, quick, low-cost and minimally micro-destructive approach to discriminating between Roman artefacts sculpted with Göktepe (Aphrodisia, Turkey) or Carrara (Apuan Alps, Italy) white marbles by using a standard X-Ray Powder Diffractometer (XRPD) and a refinement of the unit cell parameters and volume of calcite. At present, the routine way of differentiating between these two almost indistinguishable by-eye marbles is based on the typically higher strontium content of calcite in the Microasiatic lithotype, a unique geochemical-crystallographic feature with respect to all other non-Göktepe fine-grained white marbles used in classical times. The XRPD approach has been verified by testing eighteen samples of known composition, nine from Carrara and nine from Göktepe quarries, which had already been analysed with other laboratory techniques. The applicability of the method to archaeological artefacts was confirmed by an archaeometric study performed on some famous Roman sculptures of the National Archaeological Museum of Venice and from Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli. The results show that Göktepe/Carrara discrimination is always possible and that this XRPD approach can potentially become a useful and low-cost routine procedure to solve provenance issues.

Amphorae of Roman Time from Excavations at Settlement on Berezan Island (in Collection of Odesa Archaeological Museum of NAS of Ukraine)

The author presents the finds of amphorae of the Roman time, which were found on the island of Berezan. Materials that are introduced into scientific circulation are stored in the depositaries of the Odesa Archaeological Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. They are mainly represented by fragments of amphorae, which were found as a result of the work of archaeological expeditions headed by M.F. Boltenko (1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1946) and V.V. Lapin (1960, 1961) at Berezan settlement. Some of the finds also came from the island of Berezan, but the year and place of their finding are unknown.
 A comprehensive study of amphorae fragments gives the opportunity to reconstruct the trade relations of the settlement, which was located on the island of Berezan in the first centuries AD. Products in transport amphorae appeared on the island in the early Roman time. Thus, in amphorae of type Vnukov S І, dating no later than the first third of the 2nd century AD, Heraclean wine, made according to Coan recipe, was imported. Subsequently, the products of Heraclea Pontica sporadically came in amphorae of variant Vnukov S IVC.
 The peak of trade activity of the settlement was attained in the end of the 2nd – the middle of the 3rd century AD. The range of products imported in transport wares during that period was rather wide. Heraclean wine was imported in large quantities (in amphorae of variant Vnukov S IVD) as opposed to much lesser quantities of the Aegean wine (in vessels of type Kapitän II) and Cilicia wine (in amphora of type Agora G 199). Probably, there was wine in amphora of type Zeest 72 or Zeest 73, which came to the island from an unidentified production site.
 Bosporus ‘salsamentum’, which had been very popular among the inhabitants of Berezan settlement since the end of the 2nd century AD was transported in amphorae of type Zeest 75 (variants A, C, D), and from the beginning of the 3rd century AD, also in a rather rare container of type Krapivina 27 (variants ‘a’ and ‘b’). Salted fish was also imported from the non-localized center in vessels of variant Zeest 75B. In addition, a small amount of purchased olive oil was imported in amphorae of type Zeest 80 from several production sites located in the Aegean and the Black Sea regions. Single items represent variants of amphorae that cannot be correlated with already known types.
 In Berezan collection of the Odesa Archaeological Museum of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, no ceramic containers were found, which could be dated only later than 264. However, vessels of types Zeest 72 and Kapitän II could come to Berezan in the 4th century AD.

Chemical characterization of organic residues on Late Roman amphorae from shipwrecks off the coast of Marsala (Trapani, Italy)

Organic residues were extracted from thirty-three different types of Roman and Late Antique amphorae retrieved from underwater contexts in the custody of the Archaeological Museum “Baglio Anselmi” of Marsala in Sicily. The samples were analysed using GC-MS and 1H NMR, finding biomarkers of plant oils (including saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, alcohols and alkanes present in plant waxes) were identified in seven samples. The biomarkers for Pinaceae spp., used for making pitch, were identified in one sample. The results obtained shed light on the function of different types of North African amphorae, traditionally interpreted as containers for olive oil, wine and fish sauce, presenting new evidence to reassess the system of trade between Sicily and North Africa in Late Antiquity.

ARCHAEOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF A GROUP OF GOLD JEWELRY FROM THE DIYARBAKIR ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Jewelry is a material relic that people have used for various purposes and assigned various meanings to from the past to the present. Jewelry allows us to identify people's beliefs, cultures, social relationships, and even the technologies they used during the time they were made. With the discovery of mines and the advancement of technology, jewelry made from ready-made materials found in nature in the early periods has been replaced by precious metals, stones, and alternative materials. Gold jewelry and jewelry pieces acquired through purchase and confiscation have been examined at the Diyarbakir Archaeological Museum to observe this change. The artifacts cannot be dated because they have not been discovered through systematic excavations and the context in which they had been discovered is unidentified. Furthermore, because there is no method for archaeometrically dating gold artifacts, national and international jewelry catalogues, articles, and theses written on jewelry have been studied in the dating of jewelry covered by the study. Following these reviews, visual comparisons have been used to determine the possible dates of the jewelry. The chemical composition of the gold jewelry and jewelry pieces has been determined using the Portable Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer (P-EDXRF) after visual descriptions of the gold jewelry and jewelry pieces have been made. It has been attempted here to comprehend how the gold ratio in jewelry changes on periodically basis in this study, 17 gold artifacts have been introduced, and the analysis results have been interpreted. When the overall chemical composition of the artifacts has been examined, gold + silver and gold + silver + copper content has been determined as a result of the analysis. The gold content in pre-Roman jewelry has been lower than in Roman jewelry, and the majority of the artifacts have been electrum, according to periodic comparisons of the contents of these alloys. It was acknowledged that in ancient gold production technology that artifacts have been produced by using the element of gold and alloys in which the ratio of gold was reduced together with silver. This tradition is found to be coincided with the artifacts after 2800 BC, when gold production began, and the Lydian Period (7th century BC and later), when the separation of gold and silver has been discovered.

The Gods die in museums

Recently, Johannes Neurath’s book, titled Subdue the gods, doubt the images (2020) was published, which, among other things, warns that, in the archaeological museums of Mexico, including the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico City, there has been an “ontological mistreatment” of the sacred images of the pre-Hispanic era through their removal from their original locations and indistinct placement in large and cold rooms packed with monoliths, without any consideration for the fact that some were – and continue to be – images bestowed with power and influence by many communities today.

The items of Islam and pre-Islamic beliefs of the Bashkirs in collection of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of the Institute of Ethnological Research of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences

The subject of this research is museum sources on the religion of Bashkir people. The goal lies in examination of the items of Islam and pre-Islamic beliefs from the ethnographic collections of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of R. G. Kuzeev Institute of Ethnological Research of the Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is determined that the Museum stores over 50 items related to religion that were collected in the late XX century in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Kurgan Oblast, and Orenburg Oblast. These Islamic (Sunni Muslims) items are rather associated with the traditions and lifestyle of the Bashkir people: prayer rugs – namazlik, Quran, tasbih, tagiyah, ablution items – kumgan, dress of the Mullah. Prayer rugs are decorated with floral embroidery, with images of mosque, kumgan, crescent moon, and Arabic inscription. The collections also feature the items related to Shia Muslims – a stone used in prayer. Islam first infiltrated Bashkir culture in the X – XI centuries; by the XIII – XIV century it spread significantly; strengthening its positions with each century, it has fully integrated into life of Bashkir population by the end of the XIX century. Despite this fact, certain items pre-Islamic beliefs have retained in everyday life of the Bashkir people: amulets (amulet stones, juniper, feathers of wood grouse, goose down, etc.). Bashkirs were able to synthesize the pre-Islamic and Islamic tradition, which remain existing harmoniously in the territory of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Издание трудов классика краеведения Крыма завершено: Собрание сочинений Усеина Боданинского в 3-х томах (2018–2020)

The reviews is devoted to the three-volume collection of the well-known Crimean Tatar ethnographer and Turkologist, the first director of the Bakhchisarai Palace Museum Usein Bodaninsky, whose works were published by Sh. Mardzhani Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan and Simferopol in 2018–2020. The first volume, which appeared in 2019, includes different research works published by Bodaninsky from 1917 to the beginning of the 1930s. The second volume (2018) contains unpublished diaries of the Bakhchisarai Palace Museum written by Bodaninsky in 1924–1926, when he was the director of this scientific and cultural institution. The third volume (2020) is divided into three parts. The first of them includes commented written materials, ethnographic and archeological sketches in facsimiles of the expeditions carried out by Bodaninsky in the Crimea in 1925–1928, as well as his notes of the Crimean earthquakes happened in 1927. The second part includes unpublished documentation, annual reports and plans of the Bakhchisarai Palace Museum dated 1922–1929 and the beginning of 1934. The third section contains letters, statements, notes composed by Bodaninsky from 1920 to 1932. The materials published in three volumes should be evaluated as a valuable contribution to the study of the history and ethnography of the Muslim Crimea, archeology and early Soviet museum work among the Crimean Tatars.

Constructing Meanings: The Museum as a Stage Set for the Presentation of Archeological Collections

Museums are real places that in a dematerializing world offer an encounter between visitors and tangible objects. With the shift of museum buildings away from recognizable types to heterogeneity and experimentation, as well as the greater emphasis placed on the visitor’s engagement with the museum, the issue of the role of museum architecture in relation to the collections it is designed to accommodate has become a key challenge. This paper argues that museum buildings as organized spaces can contribute to constructing meanings and become part of the distinctive experience of the collections each museum offers. It analyses three archeological museums with newly built or extended buildings, that experiment with novel ways of presenting their collections, and shows how the tension between visitors’ paths of movement and lines of sight can become the conceptual spine of the museum displays and stage the presentation of archeological objects. Three modalities of staging are identified, suggesting a critical shift: from emphasis on a theoretical concept, to attribution of symbolic meaning, and then to embodied, sensory and affective contextualization. This is argued to reflect the “experiential turn” in museums and the increasing understanding of meaning as being grounded in our bodily experience.

«Soviet scholars were on duty»: studying and teaching of the archaeology and the history of primitive society in the Belarusian State University during the war and post-war period

The article deals with the little-known pages of the history of archaeology and education. It reveals the main aspects of the teaching of archaeology and other disciplines of the relevant profile at the Belarusian State University in the period from 1940s to the beginning of 1950s. Lectures were conducted by full-time staff members of the Belarusian State University. Moscow scholars as well as fellow workers of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR were also invited for teaching. Scientific activity in the field of archaeology and closely-related disciplines was constrained by personnel problems and restricted material resources. University intellectuals carried did their best to restore the Museum of history and archaeology, however, due to the lack of exhibition space, the renewed exposition had not been opened.

Privilege was given to Kamiаnets City by Princes Yuri (George) and Alexander Koriatovych in 1374: Lists and Interpretations

The privilege which was given to Kamianets city in Podillia by Princes Yuriy (George) and Alexander Koriatovych in 1374 is quite famous in the scientific community. It is believed that due to this privilege Kamianets received Magdeburg Law. Up to now it only has been preserved in a few lists which were studied in detail by Yu. Sitsinskyi in his work "Podillia under the Rule of Lithuania". According to him two lists were kept in Kamianets Historical and Archaeological Museum: one in the diploma of King August III dated June 17, 1735, the second one in the diploma of King Stanislaw Augustus dated May 29, 1765. Besides in the State Archives of Khmelnytskyi Oblast we managed to come across several lists of this document. We are talking about the fund no. 120 "Podillia Chief Court" which has 4043 units of storage for the period 1796–1831 years. Until 2003 it was stored in Kamianets-Podilskyі City Archive. After the fire which occurred in April 2003 all materials were transported to the State Archives of Khmelnytskyi Oblast and restored. The texts of this privilege are contained in the following cases: 1) Inventory 1, case 3352: The case of lands belonging to the city of Kamianets. Volume 1. It was begun in 1537. It was completed in 1730. It had 240 sheets; 2) Inventory 1, case 1631: concerning the boundaries of Kamianets-Podilskyi city with adjacent possessions and state settlements. Volume 1: It was begun on November, 24 1799. It was completed on June, 11 1800. It had 130 sheets. In the first case we have only one version of the privilege in Polish (no. 1). The document was restored, glued of two parts with an offset of one line. The privilege is dated November 7, 1374. We do not know anything about this list at the moment. In the second case four lists were preserved. Polish versions are on sheets of 20–20 versus (no. 2) and 56–57 versus (no. 3) which had been dated November 7, 1374 and two translations into Russian are on sheets 6–6 versus. (no. 4) 21–22 versus (no. 5) with similar dating. Exactly this case is very interesting since this document had been used in the lawsuit concerning land demarcation in Kamianets-Podilskyi after the capture of Podillia by the Russian Empire in 1793. At the end of the article an academic version of the text privilege in Polish as well as a Russian translation of these archival cases are published.

A Short Note on the Knossos Statuette Inscription

For the inscription of the Egyptian statuette in the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, the dedicator’s second title has long been open to question. New and detailed physical evidence, based on optical profilometry, is presented here. The results show errors/omissions in the previously accepted reading and open the way to a much more plausible translation.

Review of Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volumes 2A, 2B, and 2C

Previous article No AccessBook and Film ReviewsReview of Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volumes 2A, 2B, and 2C Background to the Study of the Metal Remains, volume 2A of Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand. Edited by Joyce C. White and Elizabeth G. Hamilton. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2018. Metals and Related Evidence from Ban Chiang, Ban Tong, Ban Phak Top, and Don Klang, volume 2B of Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand. Edited by Joyce C. White and Elizabeth G. Hamilton. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2018. The Metal Remains in Regional Context, volume 2C of Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand. Edited by Joyce C. White and Elizabeth G. Hamilton. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2019.Anke HeinAnke HeinSchool of Archaeology, Oxford University, 1 South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3TG, United Kingdom ([email protected]). Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 62, Number 5October 2021 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/716840 Views: 92Total views on this site HistoryAccepted August 10, 2021 © 2021 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved. For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

A Multi-Analytical Study of Egyptian Funerary Artifacts from Three Portuguese Museum Collections

A diachronic, multi-analytical approach combining EDXRF, µFTIR, µRaman, SEM-EDS, and Py-GC/MS has been adopted with the aim to study for the first time the painting materials used to decorate Egyptian funerary masks and sarcophagi ranging from the Late Period to the Roman Period and stored in the Archaeological National Museum (MNA) and the Carmo Archaeological Museum (MAC) of Lisbon and the Natural History Museum of the University in Oporto (MNH-FCUP). Results indicate that yellow and red ochres, realgar, cinnabar, Egyptian blue, and Egyptian green were used as pigments while chalk served as the preparatory layer. Over the 1000-year timeline of the studied artifacts, the palette remained remarkably consistent with previous findings as exemplified by cinnabar being used for red pigments in samples only dated after the Ptolemaic period. The presence of Sn in Egyptian blue and Egyptian green pigments used in one sample suggests the use of recycled bronze scraps during pigment production. Black pigments in two Late Period masks were found to be produced by mixing Egyptian blue with red ochre suggesting either a hitherto unknown method for production of purple pigments in the Egyptian palette or, alternatively, an attempt to create a specific hue or shade of dark brown or black. The results of this study contribute to further expand the database of Ancient Egyptian painting materials while at the same time helping to valorize three important Egyptian collections in Portugal.

МУЗЕЙ АРХЕОЛОГИИ И ЭТНОГРАФИИ ИЭИ УФИЦ РАН: СОЗДАНИЕ И РАЗВИТИЕ

The subject of the research is the experience of creating and functioning of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of the R.G. Kuzeev Institute of Ethnological Research of the UFRC RAS (MAE IEI UFRC RAS), which is an integral part of the academic museum network formed in the second half of the twentieth century. For a long time, the museum has been exhibiting objects that demonstrate the results of archaeological and ethnographic research in the field of studying the history and culture of the peoples of the Southern Urals. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of the creation of the museum, to consider its development to date; to analyze the main directions of work and the results of museum activities, as well as to determine the specifics and prospects for the development of museum activities of the IEI of the UFRC RAS. In the course of the research, the names of scientists and specialists who participated in the formation of collections are named, information about the acquisition of museum funds and state accounting of objects is provided, the features of exposition activity are highlighted, the most interesting exhibitions and current work in this direction are noted, the implementation of excursion activities is shown, the results of project work are highlighted and the most significant projects are described. Attention is also paid to the results of research activities based on archaeological and ethnographic funds, since this work makes a significant contribution to the development of historical science.

ПРАВОСЛАВНЫЕ КОЛЛЕКЦИИ В ФОНДАХ МУЗЕЯ АРХЕОЛОГИИ И ЭТНОГРАФИИ ИЭИ УФИЦ РАН

The article analyzes the quantitative and qualitative composition of the collection of the Museum of Archeology and Ethnography of the R.G. Kuzeev Institute for Ethnological Research of the UFRC RAS (MAE IEI UFRC RAS) related to Orthodoxy. It is noted that these items were collected as a result of ethnographic expeditions, donations and purchases, are stored and studied for a long time. The article provides information about the history of the appearance, methods of use, as well as what these objects carried and carry meaning in the religious life of the peoples of Bashkortostan. The conclusion is formulated, according to which, the objects of religious cults from the collection of the MAE are mainly represented by material and pictorial documents. Pictorial sources include icons depicting St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Tabyn Mother of God, especially revered in the Southern Urals, saints and sculptural images of the crucifixions of Christ. The material or material sources include crosses (body, altar), items of church utensils, vestments of priests, etc. In general, the objects of religious cults of the peoples of the Southern Urals are a kind of document, evidence reflecting the historical past of the region. The introduction of museum sources into scientific circulation, their comprehensive study will significantly expand and supplement the source base of research. At the same time, the development of the main problems of preservation, use and interpretation of these sources should become the subject of independent scientific research, which can make a significant contribution to the understanding of the cultural heritage of the Southern Urals, Bashkortostan in particular.