State legal regulation of the organization of archaeological research in 2002-2014. at the federal and regional levels (on the example of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra)

The author aims to trace how the changes in the state legal regulation of archaeological research in 2002–2014 affected the regional system of cultural heritage protection in Yugra. The research is based on the texts of federal and regional laws and regulations that regulate state accounting, protection, study and popularization of cultural heritage in general and archeology in particular. The sources of the study reflect the main provisions of the cultural policy of the state at the federal and regional levels in the period from 2002 to 2014. The practice of applying regulations in the territory of the district is based on scientific publications. The leading research method is a comparative historical and contextual analysis of texts of normative sources and scientific publications on the research topic. As a result of the research, the author concludes that the cancellation of the procedure of historical and cultural expertise on the district's lands in 2007 was negatively influenced by the entry into force of the new federal legislation. This has jeopardized the regional system of State protection of cultural heritage. On the one hand, the regional body for the state protection of cultural heritage was deprived of one of the main levers of pressure on enterprises whose business activities involved risks of damage (destruction) of historical and cultural monuments. On the other hand, specialized archaeological organizations accumulating regional personnel and the regional logistical base of field research could lose their main sources of funding and cease to exist in a market economy. It was possible to overcome this crisis thanks to the established ties between the regional state agency for the protection of cultural heritage, its authority, regional archaeological enterprises and large oil-producing enterprises in the region. The latter realized the importance and economic feasibility of owning complete information about the lands in which they had invested heavily. The author considers the introduction of the mandatory procedure of historical and cultural expertise of lands subject to economic development by direct borrowing by federal legislators at the federal level in 2013-14. The adjustment of federal legislation is based on the positive experience of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug in the period 1995 – 2007. The author finds similarities between regional and federal legislation not only in borrowing terminology, but also in copying the procedure of historical and cultural expertise.