Database of Archeological Collections from the Excavations of the Vostochnyi Manych Barrow Group

Abstract

Archeological excavations on the territory of the Republic of Kalmykia have resulted in a wealth collection of archeological findings which are stored in three museums. At the moment there is no precise information on how collections are distributed. The investigation of funds condition in the National Museum of the Republic of Kalmykia showed that the collections were separated and some findings do not have registration certificates. With the aim to solve the problem of findings registration it was decided to create a database according to the archeological excavations records. It will provide an opportunity to assess the damage caused to collections, as well as to identify some unregistered findings with the help of qualitative and quantitative indicators keyed into the database. The second goal of the paper is to develop database structure to register the archeological collections as a standard which will serve as a sample for creating databases on other burial grounds. At this point, Excel spreadsheet for archeological findings from the excavations of the Vostochnyi Manych Barrow Group was created. It takes into account data on the 329 mounds that contained 1539 burials. The number of findings made up 1657 descriptions that are more than 4,400 items. Well-organized information will allow entering any kind of queries thus making it possible to conduct a variety of studies, as well as will help museums to register archeological collections.