The iron combat hatchet with an anthropomorphic image from the Novotroitsk necropolis (materials for the course “Archaeological heritage of Altai”)

Purpose. The article presents the results of the development of a problem task for the academic discipline “Archaeological heritage of Altai”, studied by second-year students of the Institute of History, Social Communications and Law of the Altai State Pedagogical University, studying in the direction of training “Tourism”. As part of the educational project, students are invited to establish the reliability of the interpretation of a well-known archaeological find in the region - an Iron Combat Hatchet with an anthropomorphic image from the Novotroitskoye-2 necropolis. Results. During the implementation of the educational project, the study of the history of the discovery of the Combat Hatchet, the search and analysis of its multi-temporal photographs, the comparison of the original photographs and research reconstruction are carried out. In the course of these operations, it is established that the anthropomorphic image on the Hatchet was not recorded at the time of its discovery. During the processing of the Hatchet, fragments of corrosion were removed from it, due to which it acquired human-like shapes. There are no analogies to such an image on the sites of the south of Western Siberia. Thus, the fact of the presence of an anthropomorphic image on the Hatchet from Novotroitskoye-2 is questioned. Conclusion. Problem tasks based on the consideration of particular debatable topics that involve variability of judgments have a clear promise in the modern educational practice of higher educational institutions. Their involvement in the educational process contributes to the formation of students' critical thinking.