The first Soviet instructions on conducting field studies of archeology monuments: on the history of creation (1927)

The article is devoted to the formation of methodological standards in the field of Russian and Soviet field archeology. The author reviews a prehistory of the appearance of the first Soviet instructions on the conduct of archaeological excavations and explorations in 1927. This trend has developed in Russia since the second half of the 19th century. The development of a methodology for studying archaeological monuments of various types began somewhat earlier than the system of regulation of field research appeared through the issuance of licenses or «open lists» (1889). Then the basic principles of the subsequent development of archeology in the USSR and the modern Russian Federation were established. The first methodological developments were made by the prominent Russian scientists such as V. Gorodtsov, D. Samokvasov, A. Spitsyn. The further methodological work was interrupted by the First World War and the Civil War, and a double change of power in February and October 1917; it was resumed only in 1919. The same applies to the field research itself, the number of which again became significant only in 1923. In the early years of Soviet state, the administrative management of field research (including the issuance of licenses) was entrusted to the Archeological Unit in the system of institutions of the People’s Commissariat of Education of the Russian Federation, and the scientific part to the Academy of the History of Material Culture which performed expert functions. The first Soviet instructions on the methods of excavation and exploration were compiled by B. Zhukov, a member of the Archaeological Department; they were discussed at the Academy and were accepted as binding for all archaeologists who received licenses.