The article introduces into scientific circulation a new archaeological site Tonorak (Baikal-Patom Highlands, Bodaibo district of the Irkutsk region). The Tonorak site is located 93 km upriver from the city of Bodaibo, on the right bank of the River Vitim, on a 20-meter basement terrace. Two cultural horizons embedded in subaeral sediments have been identified. Fragments of smooth-walled pottery were found in the first cultural horizon, including a rim with two rows of oblique straight impressions, as well as a prismatic core and flint microblades, and a fragment of a pebble adze. For ceramics, two obtained radiocarbon dates address to the end of the 9th - 1st half of the 8th century BC. Typological correlations in ceramics and stone industry of the 1st cultural horizon were made with the Ust’-Mil’ culture of the cultural and chronological scheme of Yakutia. A high level of stone-blade production, which was preserved by the turn of the Bronze-Iron Ages, was noted. For the Lower Vitim region, this is the first dated archaeological site of the late Bronze Age, promising for further study. A microblade, a fragment of a chopper, flakes, and chipped pieces of pebbles were found in the second cultural horizon. Its age has not been established. Materials of the Tonorak site are published on the background of the presented review of the current state of knowledge of archeology of the middle - late Holocene of the Baikal-Patom highlands. It is noted that due to the weak stratigraphic reference and a low taphonomy of cultural remains, Neolithic-Paleometal sites continue to be poorly studied, and knowledge about these epochs remains provisional, i.e. for each of the stages of the Neolithic - Paleometal era there are only point representations. Due to the biased attention to more promising objects and remoteness and inaccessibility of territories, a significant part of the valley of the Vitim, Mama and other rivers was visited for a short time.

The article presents the materials of collection No. 192, stored in the Irkutsk Museum of Regional Studies. There is no documentation for the collection. One of the options for forming a collection is considered. It has been concluded that most of the things presented in it are the accompanying inventory of burials excavated in the mid-1920s by B.E. Petri in the Tunka Valley at the Mondy 1 burial ground. The collection includes weapons, horse equipment, clothing and household items. The inventory is described, its typology is given. It is noted that two pairs of stirrups included in collection No. 192 are depicted in photographs of burials excavated by B.E. Petri, and published in the monograph by A.P. Okladnikov “Essays from the history of the Western Buryat-Mongols (XVII-XVIII centuries)”. The book contains photographs of two human burials and a ritual burial of a ram. The skeletons are located in wooden decks with rounded ends. The corpse was elongated, on the back, the hands rested on the hips. In the first burial, one of the stirrups was located between the legs of the buried, and the second was on the edge of the deck. In the second burial, both stirrups are located outside the deck, to the left of the buried. Both graves excavated by B.E. Petri, can be attributed to the burials of the Sayantui type, which characterize the funeral ritual of the Mongols of the imperial period (XIII-XIV centuries). Most of the items from collection No. 192 date from this time. Of the items listed by A.P. Okladnikov, discovered by B.E. Petri, the collection currently lacks Chinese bronze mirrors, the remains of lacquered saddles, pearls, silver and gold jewelry, whistles from arrowheads and a silver bowl on a high leg.

This article attempts to reconstruct interethnic contacts in the North-West of Yakutia on the basis of an analysis of the elements of the ritual and practical area of the funeral rite, recorded in the materials of “air” (arangas) burials of the 18th-19^th centuries. The types of arrangement of burial structures, the composition of the set of accompanying inventories, the orientation of the buried as well as other aspects are considered and analyzed. The region of the basins of the Lower Lena, Olenyok and Anabar Rivers has long been a border zone, where for several thousand years the paths of ancient tribes crossed, and later - the Yakut, Tungus, Yukagir, Samoyed, Dolgans tribes and Russians. According to the hypothesis of I.S. Gurvich, the basis of the population was the Okhotsk Tungus, who in the XV-XVI centuries wedged between the Samoyeds and the Yukaghirs. Starting from the 17th century groups of central Yakuts, as well as Russians, arrive here, who created stationary strongholds and settlements, as a result of which an ethnic community of northern Yakut reindeer herders has developed. At present, the local population of the Olenyok basin identifies themselves as Evenks. Analysis of the funeral rite recorded in the materials of the Arangas burials of the 18th–19th centuries shows that elements of the culture of the Yakuts, Evenks, Dolgans and Samoyeds are organically intertwined in it, at the same time, Russian influence is not visible at all. The study used a systematic approach, generalization, analysis, as well as comparative historical and historical genetic methods.

The article discusses the medieval burial site discovered in 2019 by the Vilyuy archeological expedition team from the Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, SB RAS, during exploration in Kyukyaisky Nasleg of the Suntarsky district, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The burial was found within the boundaries of an ancient site near Lake Kyukey. Radiocarbon dating of human bones revealed that the site dates back to the 15th-17th centuries. The burial rite is not typical for the Yakuts and Tungus. The skeleton, not arranged in anatomical order, was placed in a small pit and covered with a flooring of larch poles. The lower limbs and a significant part of the arm bones were absent. According to the anatomical-morphological and osteometric signs, as well as the degree of abrasion on chewing surfaces of the upper jaw teeth, the remains belong to a man of the Mongoloid race, whose estimated bone age is 40.5 ± 45 years (36-45 years). A forensic medical examination of the remains revealed four injuries on the left shoulder blade and both humerus, probably caused by arrows. The depression at the place of attachment of the costoclavicular ligament were revealed, which may indicate a constant overstrain of the connective tissue in this section. This circumstance suggests that the person could be an archer or a rower during his lifetime. It is assumed that the buried person was executed or sacrificed. There is also a suggestion put forward that the Ulakhan Aryy site may be associated with the ancient population of the Vilyuy River basin, known from legends of the Vilyuy Yakuts.

Late Antique Chersonese - Byzantine Cherson is an unique archaeological assemblage. On its territory and in its vicinity, have been preserved monuments, which allow us to trace the elements of the development of Christian architecture. One of the unique feature was the suburban cruciform church, which is known in literature as the monastery of the Mother of God of Blachernae. Its formation took place on the territory of the Late Antique necropolis which was mastered by Christians for the burial of martyrs who suffered for their faith in the period of persecution in the 4th century. In the second part of the 5th century in this territory was built a small memorial church. It was became the center of the formation of the sacred space, referred to in hagiographic texts as "holy tombs". In the middle - second part of the 6th century on the site of an early church was built a temple in the form of an equal cross. It had a centric structure; worship services in it had memorial features. After a short time, the temple was rebuilt: in the eastern part of the cross was formed altar space, the floor was lined with marble tiles, and the territory of the temple is covered with mosaics. A baptistery was added to the building, a farm or residential complex was built nearby, the complex is surrounded by a wall built in opus mixtum technique, in which a memorial chapel was built. The church was damaged by an earth[1]quake in the middle of the 11th century and was rebuilt, but didn’t lose its memorial functions. After the decline and desolation of Byzantine Cherson, the sacred space continued to function. The complex remained a place of attraction for the Christians of Taurica in Turkish times.

The article considers the origins, formation and problematization of the idea of determinism, understood as a statement about the existence of cause-and-effect relations in the world that form the basis of the universal certainty of things, events and processes. The idea of determinism arises as a desire to explain everything that exists by pointing to the reason for existence. It is clarified that determination and causality do not coincide in volume, it is necessary to distinguish between conditionality (determination) and generation (causality). The appeal to the idea of determination is due to the fact that in modern science doubts are expressed about the universality of the principle of causality, in philosophy new ways of understanding the traditional propositions about whether everything in the world is deterministic are proposed. The basis of the idea of determinism are such basic concepts as “cause” and “effect”, “randomness” and “necessity”, “probability”, which have their own history. At the same time, the role of D. Hume in the problematization of the concept of causality, the attitude to his views in modern thought is noted. Attention is also paid to the classical doctrine of Aristotle's causes in the context of updating the position of the presence of a target cause as determining the origin and existence of the Universe. The main points of understanding the role of the determinism principle in non-classical and post-non-classical science are briefly outlined. The main point of consideration of the idea of determinism and the acceptance of determinism as an ontological principle is to clarify the ontological status of the laws of science and the laws of nature, these questions set the perspective of understanding the world as deterministic. It is concluded that the development of the idea of determinism is connected with the expansion of the sphere of reality accessible to man and with the problematization of traditional images and concepts used for the deterministic explanation of the world. New phenomena and events (nonlinearity, self-organization) are discovered and investigated, which leads to new questions about the nature of determinism, its principles and boundaries. The criticism of determinism in modern philosophy and science is quite justified, but there are still no grounds for rejecting determinism as a methodological principle of scientific research.

The article is based on unpublished documents of Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (Siberian Order). It describes the initial stage of joining the territories of Transbaikalia and Amur Region (Dauria) to Russia with the help of the Daurian regiment went under the command of former Yenisesk governor Afanasy Filippovich Pashkov. The study focuses on events related to the campaign of A.F. Pashkov’s regiment to Dauria in 1655-1657 from the time of its placement in Yeniseisk to the moment of its entry into the Transbaikalia. The study issues: conflict of Daurian regiment with Yeniseisk governor I. Akinfov; difficulties in equipping ships for the campaign; the recruitment of new warriors into the regiment; the main events on the way of the regiment to Bratsk fortress; stay in Bratsk fortress; death of Russian regiments in Transbaikalia and Amur region; problem of providing the regiment with grain supplies, as well as betrayal of warriors Fil’ka Poletai and Sen’ka Belous, etc. It was shown the activity of Pashkov as a talented administrator who put forward a number of ideas for the effective arrangement of transport routes between Transbaikalia and Yenisei district, as well as provision with bread and weapons. Some ideas of Daurian governor were implemented, for example, the construction of the road between Bratsk and Ilimsk fortress. As part of this work, for the first time in the historical literature are given the names of people who joined Pashkov’s campaign in Dauria, including new-recruited people from Yenisei, Bratsk and Ilimsk. It was concluded that A. Pashkov, despite numerous difficulties, proved to be a successful administrative figure, whose potential allowed to hope for success in the accession of Dauria to Russia.

The trip to Siberia by Morgan Philips Price, which he undertook in 1910, resulted in his travel accounts “Siberia” published in London in 1912. In his memoirs, M.F. Price tells about his almost a yearlong living in the midst of Siberian society. Unpublished in Russia and never translated in Russian, the work provides some fresh insight into social and economic situation of the provincial territory. The paper seeks to compare the stereotypes of the representative of the English-speaking country about Siberia and Siberians, which prevailed at the beginning of the 20th century, with those outlined by the English-speaking researchers of the early 21st century. Meetings with the local people meticulously reproduced by Mr. Price allow verifying the ideas that have developed in historiography about the values and moods of Siberian society. The paper focuses primarily on Mr. Price’s accounts on cultural transformations of Siberia, development of the ideas about education, visits to provincial museums – the Krasnoyarsk City Museum, located in the administrative center of the province, and the Minusinsk Museum, the oldest museum of the Yenisei province. Particular attention is given to the way the museums were organized, managed, financed and met the needs of the local population. This paper thus provides detailed examination of the travel accounts “Siberia” written by M.F. Price. The prospect for further research is to continue reconstructing features of everyday life and the evolution of attitudes towards cultural space of the provincial territory at the beginning of the 20th century.

In the historiography of Russian-Japanese relations during the First World War, there is a discussion about the role of Japan in supplying the Russian army with weapons. Some historians insist that Japan, unlike other allies, fulfilled contracts on time and efficiently. Others point to the poor technical qualities of the weapons supplied by Japan. The material presented in the article shows that the Japanese government during the First World War enthusiastically took up the supply of the Russian army and Navy with the necessary weapons and equipment. In the field of armaments, the Japanese army ceded to the Russian almost half of its arsenal stock of small arms (rifles) and a significant part of its artillery. In addition, the Japanese authorities undertook to produce 2 million rifles for the Russian army. But the weakness of Japan's industry at the beginning of the twentieth century did not allow to fulfill this military order earlier than 1917-1920. At the same time, the hundreds of thousands of Japanese rifles delivered to Russia demanded appropriate ammunition and the Russian military authorities constantly asked the Japanese military and economic elites to assist them in supplying both ammunition and shells. It was the manufacture of ammunition for the Japanese armament of the Russian army that formed the bulk of the diplomatic correspondence between Tokyo and St. Petersburg. On the question of the state of Japanese artillery I would like to note that part of the delivered heavy artillery, namely guns with a caliber of 203, 240 and 305 mm, were worn out, as previously used by the Japanese in the Russian-Japanese war and during the siege of Qingdao. At that time, the Japanese side could not supply Russia with new heavy artillery for technical reasons.

On July 10, 1934, the NKVD of the USSR was established. It was formed as a “super-agency” that covered many areas of state activity and was rigidly centralized according to the management system. The tasks assigned to the department required special attention to the selection of employees. This was especially true of the police. The social composition was of great importance in it. Preference was given to workers and peasants, whose part by the beginning of the war reached 28.67 % and 30 %, respectively. At the same time, 0.5 % had higher education, 11.2 % had secondary education, but most of the personnel had only primary education. Many employees were trained on-the-job. In the 1940-1941 academic year, there were almost 53 thousand police officers at school desks. But the main role was given to professional training, which was carried out at courses, in colleges and schools of the NKVD system. In the Irkutsk Region, “Operational management courses of the NKVD of the East Siberian Region” were organized, where legal and social disciplines were studied for 4 months. A system of service, combat, sports and technical training was organized. The experience of the courses made it possible to open in 1939 the Irkutsk School of Secondary and Commanding Police Personnel, which became a training center for the internal affairs bodies of the East Siberian regions. The reinforcing of the activity of this educational institution occurred in the period from 1947 to 1956. The training period of the cadets was 2 years, and the recruitment was 100 people. Later, a distance learning department was opened. Due to the School, it was possible to form a qualified middle and commanding police of the Irkutsk region. In 1958, its activities ceased, but a training center was established on its basis at the Department of Internal Affairs of the Irkutsk region.

The lend-lease program, in terms of US assistance to the Soviet Union, has always been at the center of political and scientific discussions. The extreme politicization of this phenomenon from the moment of its inception influenced its coverage both in the media and in historical science. Changes in relations between the USSR and the United States, political changes within these countries led to the appearance in historiography of various, sometimes mutually exclusive interpretations of this American aid program. The extreme interpretations of this program were, on the one hand, lend-lease is not the reason for the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany, the USSR could have won without this help. On the other hand, lend-lease practically saved the Soviet Union from defeat, and became the decisive factor in the USSR's victory over Nazi Germany. The author's analysis of Lend-Lease historiography shows that with such an antagonism of interpretations almost all researchers proceed from the concept of considering Lend-Lease as one of the elements of equal cooperation between the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition in the fight against the “world evil” - German Nazism. It is from the perspective of this concept that researchers considering the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the Lend-Lease program come to the above conclusions. In the proposed article, based on the analysis of modern Russian historiography, a conclusion is made about the inconsistency of this concept. In the author's opinion, consideration and evaluation of the whole complex of relations between the collective West and Russia is possible only taking into account the fundamental basis of these relations - the permanent, civilizational confrontation. With this approach, the definition of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the Lend-Lease program as the main content of its interpretation in historiography cannot be considered as a determining factor for understanding the historical process.

The article explores the fierce battle of Hutou fortress 9-25 august 1945. One of the difficult tasks that faced the troops of soviet 1st Far Eastern front - the assault of the fortification line of the Kwantung Army which aimed to protect Manchukuo. Hutou Fortified Region was one of the strongest Japanese fortresses in Manchuria. Just over 7 kilometers long and 10 kilometers deep, the region consisted of 19 reinforced concrete fortifications and eight log forts, numerous armored firing positions and minefields. Armament of the region consisted of one 410 mm howitzer, two 305 mm howitzers, two 240 mm guns, several 155 mm guns, and many machineguns. Soviet soldiers of 109th fortified region and 1056th rifle regiment within 17 days fought with Japanese garrison. Offensive actions required the reorganization of the units of the 109th fortified area into consolidated assault detachments. Artillery support was a key to the success of the Soviet troops. Japanese national ideology, mistakes of operational preparation soviet forces and intense combat with heavy weapons led to the deaths of more than 500 soldiers of Red Army and more than a thousand Japanese soldiers and civilians. Analyses of new materials from Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation provides a more detailed and accurate picture of Manchurian strategic offensive operation.

A considerable amount of information has been summarized in historiography, but a detailed picture of the reorganization in 1945-1953 at the level of military units has not yet been presented. The objectives of the article are to show the changes in the 7th (previously 59th) Khingan Cavalry Division to consider the issues of recruitment, training, and to show the role of inspections. This will give an idea of the adaptive capabilities of the Soviet military system. As introductory remarks, it is indicated that on the eve and during the Second World War, the Soviet cavalry developed very inconsistently, consistently going through the stages of reduction, increase and new reduction. Nevertheless, cavalry formations played a crucial role in the defensive and offensive operations of 1941-1942, compensating for the shortage of large tank formations. Since then the cavalry corps (less dependent on fuel supply) specialized in the formation of external fronts have specialized in forming the outer fronts of the enemy’s encirclement and deep breaches. The main part of the article is devoted to the post-war everyday life of one of the cavalry units preserved in the Soviet Army. The most important events in the history of the division, reflected in its historical form, are considered in chronological order. The opportunity was used to show the role of command at various levels in conditions when, fortunately, participation in campaigns and battles was not required. For example, the inspection of 1951 showed that the political and moral condition of the personnel is healthy, physically they are well prepared and military discipline and living conditions are satisfactory. In general, the units are well prepared and combat-ready. In October 1953, the division was disbanded.

The Soviet penitentiary system, formed in the 20s of the XX century, was aimed at compulsory labor activity of prisoners as the main factor of corrective training. In addition, the labor of convicts had a strong economic effect and was successfully used, both during the “Industrialization” and the War and post-War periods. After the death of I.V. Stalin in 1953 there have been a number of changes in the activities of the penitentiary system, expressed in the softening of the detention regime, the liquidation of the GULAG, mass amnesties, improved supply and sanitary conditions for prisoners, and increased security, at the same time. A system of “offsets” was introduced, the possibility of parole reappeared, which implied increased motivation on the part of the prisoners, there were renaming of the names of a number of units. The administration took measures for diverse training of convicts, with mandatory employment after release. But all this correction was not of a fundamental nature, the fulfillment of planned tasks remained a priority, educational work based on the classics of Marxism-Leninism and labor activity was carried out. Numerous problems in correctional labor institutions have not been eliminated. And the policy of “decentralization” implemented by the highest state bodies, unbalanced the activities of the system of places of detention, and contributed to the aggravation of unresolved shortcomings and contradictions. The intervention of local authorities in the activities of units of penitentiary system in the region has not always been justified and effective. The liquidation of correctional labor camps led to an increase in the significant burden on the remaining correctional labor colonies, as a result, new places of detention had to be opened. Western Siberia (especially the Kemerovo region) remained the traditional place of expulsion of the criminal element from other regions of the country, which further increased the burden on the entire penitentiary system.

The aggravation of the international situation in 2022 caused by the start of Russia's Special Military Operation in Ukraine is accompanied by cardinal political and economic changes in the processes of interaction between different countries. The public rhetoric and actions of the authorities of Western countries throughout the year demonstrate hostility towards Russia, as evidenced by Russian and foreign media, official documents of states. Consideration of changes in the relations of the USSR/Russia's relations with Western countries in the second half of the XX – early XXI century allows us to identify the true intentions and attitude of these countries to the Russian state, to the proper, in their opinion, role and place of Russia in the international arena, as well as to determine possible prospects in the development of international relations. In the relations of the USSR/Russia with Western states in the second half of the twentieth century the periods of hostility and confrontation have been long and were replaced by short periods of "calm", associated either with the need for the West to negotiate with Russia, or with the weakness of the Russian state. Even before the start of the Special Military Operation Russia appeared in official documents on the security of the United States and the European Union as an aggressor country and a potential adversary, which indicates the strengthening of Russia in the eyes of "Western partners". The US national security strategy provides for only one possible variant of the international situation – the hegemony of the U.S. over the rest of the world. The strengthening of Russia is becoming a threat to such dominance, which pushes the American leadership to use any means to suppress Russian initiatives. In March 2023, Russia adopted a new Foreign Policy Concept, in which it openly declared the hostility of Western countries and the right to defend its interests and security by any available means. In conditions of diametrically opposed aspirations of Russia and the West in matters of the political and economic structure of the world order, as well as the preservation/destruction of traditional values, a constructive dialogue becomes impossible.

The article evaluates the monograph of Voitikov Sergey Sergeevich, an archivist, a leading researcher at the Main Archival Department of Moscow. S. Voitikov in his research consistently reconstructs the state of affairs within Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (b) in the 1920s, basing on numerous documents of the era, archival materials, transcripts of congresses, memories of eyewitnesses of those events, etc. The author shows the evolution of Stalin's relationship with Zinoviev. He pays great attention to the period after Lenin's death, when power in the country practically passes to the "troika" of Stalin, Zinoviev, Kamenev. The study describes in detail the period when Zinoviev, after the XIV Congress, was removed from the leadership of the Lensoviet, the Executive Committee of the Comintern, and he allied with Trotsky against Stalin. Despite the considerable, valuable factual material, the work is mostly represented by a set of quotations, extracts from books and documents.

The review analyzes the monograph by A.A. Ivanov, S.I. Kuznetsov and Yu.A. Petrushin “First in Siberia”, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Dissertation Council in Historical Sciences at Irkutsk State University, published in the second half of 2022 by the ISU Publishing House. It highlights the history of the creation and activities of the first in Siberia Dissertation Council on Historical Sciences, which during its existence has prepared more than 700 candidates and doctors of science for universities in Siberia. The review reveals the advantages and disadvantages of the monograph and its contribution to the study of this topic.