145 years of founding of the Society of Archaeology, History and Ethnography at the Kazan University

The year 2023 marks the 145th anniversary of founding of the Society of Archaeology, History and Ethnography at the Imperial Kazan University, one of the leading scientific societies in Russia in 1878-1930, which purpose was a comprehensive study of the history of the peoples of the Volga region.
Within the anniversary date on October 26-27, 2023, a round table “Society of Archaeology, History and Ethnography in the study of Bilyar” and a field seminar “Medieval cities on transcontinental trade routes of Eurasia” were held in Bolgar and Bilyarsk of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The field seminar and round table were held as a part of the international project “Medieval cities on transcontinental trade routes of Eurasia: urban centers of the Chuy Valley and Middle Volga region”, supported by the grant of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (№22/2022, Samarkand, Uzbekistan). The field seminar was based on the results of study of the state program of the Republic of Tatarstan “Preservation of the national identity of the Tatar people (2020-2025)”.
The events were organized by the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, the Bilyar State Historical and Archaeological and Natural Museum-Reserve, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, the International Institute for Central Asian Studies and the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology named after B. Dzhamgerchinov of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyz Republic with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan.
More than 40 specialists from Bilyarsk, Bolgar, Bishkek (Kyrgyz Republic), Kazan, Naberezhnye Chelny, Samara, and Samarkand (Uzbekistan) took part in the round table, reports were made about the activities of the Society of Archaeology, History and Ethnography at the Kazan Imperial University on the study of the antiquities of the Bilyar settlement, some aspects of the study of the Bolgar and Bilyar ancient settlements and the problems of acquisition of museum funds. The results of the 2023 fieldwork on the medieval sites of the Chuy Valley and the Middle Volga region, as well as laboratory research (in particular, with bone and ceramic materials) were presented at the field seminar.
The event included an exhibition-presentation of the seven-volume edition “Archaeology of the Volga-Urals”, excursions to the Staroye Kamkino and Bilyar ancient settlements. At the latter, the participants visited the historical and archaeological museum on the base of the monument and the 2023excavation site.