Archaeological Materials Excavated in the Territory of Kalmykia, 1929–1937: A Case Study of Collections from Saratov Oblast Museum of Local History, Nature and Lore

Introduction. The history of archaeological studies on the territory of the Republic of Kalmykia began with the 1929 archaeological-ethnographical expedition of the Saratov Oblast´ Museum of Local Studies. The expedition’s field work included archaeological probings and diggings. The aim of the present study is to do a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the archaeological collections of Saratov Museum recovered during archaeological excavations in the Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast´ in the period between 1929 and 1937. Results. In general, the methodological level of the seexcavations directed by P. S. Rykov was quite good for the time they were conducted. The fact that most of the findings were accepted by the Museum immediately after the field season was closed maybe seen as the evidence of the professionalism of the team during the planning of the expedition and its actual work. Notably, practically all the results of the archaeological research (1929–1937) were published. The numbering of finds in the registration cards largely corresponds to that of the field report, which indicates that the field inventory was compiled in the process of field and laboratory work. In addition, some of the finds in the field inventory are listed as fragmented clay vessels, while in the Museum, they are recorded as whole items, which also indicates the methodological level of the work done.Conclusion. The collections in questionare a valuable source as far as the archaeology of the Volga-Manych steppes is concerned, because the physical material that they include is illustrative of the main types of archaeological sites recovered on the territory of modern Kalmykia, i. e. relating to settlement types (settlements, camps, selishcha) and burial types (burials under earth mounds and scattered burials). These collections feature items from allmajor eras: Eneolithic, Bronze, Early Iron, and Middle Ages.

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