Archaeological collections within the historical and cultural heritage of Buryatia: the problem of definitions

The article explores the problem of defining "the archaeological collection". At present, there is no unified approach to this term in source studies, archaeology and museum studies. The examples of the definition "archaeological collection" use in different contexts are given in the works of the scientists. There is also not any unified definition of this term in legislative and regulatory acts. The lack of common understanding of the definition "archaeological collection" leads to the number of difficulties in the analysis. The unified approach development will allow to preserve this important part of the cultural heritage of Buryatia. In this regard, the main task of the article is to suggest a general definition of the "archaeological collection" taking into account the specifics of source studies, archaeology and museology. The author considers the archaeological collection as a complex historical source consisting of three main parts: material (archaeological findings), written (scientific reports, field diaries, scientific and financial records) and visual (photographs, drawings, drawings).