On the issue of the history of Russian navigation and pioneering in the Arctic

The Marine Arctic Complex Expedition of the Heritage Institute is the only expedition in Russia and the world that has been conducting complex field studies of the Arctic since 1986, collecting new information about the historical and cultural heritage of the Russian and indigenous peoples of the Arctic region, including traditional shipbuilding and shipping. In order to further develop the research, work has begun on a new scientific topic, "Pioneering in the Arctic." The history of Russian pioneering in the Arctic on ships is associated with the initial Novgorod period of development of the region, which is now commonly called the Russian North. The network of waterways, rivers and sea routes developed by Novgorodians became the ethnographic basis for the formation of the traditions of northern Russian culture. The experience of navigation gained by the inhabitants of the Russian North over hundreds of years of economic life made it possible to use waterways to develop new vast spaces of Siberia, the coasts of the Arctic and the Far East. Russian Cossacks and free industrialists were able to travel 1/3 of the earth's meridian in 100 years, leaving winter huts, camps, and forts along their way, which eventually became villages and towns. With the support of indigenous peoples, the vast expanses of Siberia were included in the orbit of political and economic processes. Traditional boats, karbasses, and larger vessels, in particular, Pomor lod'yas, kochi, shitiks, and nasads, played a huge role in this advancement of the northern Russian population "towards the sun".