Exhibition of the Institute of Archaeology of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences at the summing up meeting of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites of the Republic of Tatarstan

On January 24, 2024, the summing up meeting of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites was held in Kazan. The event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan L.R. Fazleeva, Director of the Department of the State Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation R.A. Rybalo, President of the National Committee of ICOMOS, Russia, L.V. Kondrashev as well as representatives of republican authorities, public and scientific organizations.

For the event, the specialists of the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences prepared an exhibition where participants got acquainted with the results of security research in the historical part of Kazan, as well as planned scientific excavations of archaeological monuments in the Republic of Tatarstan and beyond.

The exhibition presented finds discovered during excavations in the historical part of Kazan in Ostrovsky, Tukai and Mushtari streets: fragments of a painted tiled stove, “Turkish-type” tobacco pipes, clay toys of the XVIII century, pocket watches with a commemorative inscription dated 1945.

The unique finds of the IX-XIV centuries from the Bolgar and Bilyar settlements were demonstrated: fragments of glassware, glazed imported and local pottery, raw amber, jewelry made of ornamental stones, various household items. There were also a large number of artefacts related to bone-carving and imported sphero-conical items made of gray clay.

Research outside of Tatarstan is carried out as a part of the State Program of the Republic of Tatarstan “Preservation of the national identity of the Tatar people”, which is aimed at conducting historical and archaeological studies of medieval cities and studying the historical and cultural Turkic-Tatar heritage. In 2024, archaeological investigations were carried out at the Narovchat (Penza region) and Selitrennoye ancient settlements, mausoleums nearby the village of Lapas (Astrakhan region), Kasimov (Ryazan region), Uvek settlement site, Khmelevka-1 settlement (Saratov region), Vinnovka V burial mound of the Turkic Khaganate period (Samara region), survey works in the Altai Republic, as well as excavations at the medieval settlements of Ken-Bulun and Burana in the central part of Chuy Valley (Kyrgyzstan) and the Bai-Balyk settlement (Mongolia).