Milestones in the history of Donbass archaeology

Abstract

The systematic study of archaeological sites in the Donbass region began in the 1880s. The history of regional archaeology can be conditionally divided into the following stages: the Romantic, the pre- Gorodtsov, the Gorodtsov, the Early Soviet, the Middle Soviet, the Late Soviet, and the Contemporary ones. The key events for the identification of starting points of the periods are the beginning of kurgan excavations in 1888; XII and XIII Archaeological Congresses, in 1903 and 1905 respectively; the establishment of local museums in a series of towns and cities in the first half of the 1920s; years of the Great Patriotic War; the foundation of the Department of Archaeology in the State Donetsk University (1973); dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Donetsk Archaeological Center was formed and firmly established in the time period between 1973 and 1991. The Center is known for its active scholarly publishing and studies in specialized areas of archaeology. Refs 35.