Materials of the Sayano-Altai Archaeological Expedition of 1935 in the A.V. Anokhin National Museum of the Altai Republic

Abstract

The Sayano-Altai archaeological expedition of 1935 of the State Academy of the History of Material Culture and the State Historical Museum under the general direction of S.V. Kiselev, working in two detachments, made a significant contribution to the study of archaeological sites of the Altai Mountains. The second detachment of the expedition was led by the director of the Oirot Museum of Local Lore (now the National Museum of the Altai Republic named after A. V. Anokhin), a professional archaeologist S. M. Sergeev, who conducted research near the villages of Tuekta and Bystryanskoye. The materials of the excavations near the village of Tuekta belong to the ancient Turkic culture; the materials of the excavations near the village of Bystryanskoe belong to the Bystryansk culture of the Northern Altai of the early Iron Age. All the materials and documents obtained during the excavations were transferred to the local museum and made up its “golden fund”. The vast majority of the finds from S.M. Sergeev’s excavations have not been published, which signifi cantly reduces the information potential of the collection. The article provides a brief overview of the materials, both documentary and subject series, obtained as a result of the work of the second detachment of the expedition, stored in the A. V. Anokhin National Museum of the Altai Republic.