In 2024 marks the 140th birthday of the founder of the Irkutsk School of Archaeology, professor of the Irkutsk University B.E. Petri. In 1923-1924 he made several scientific expeditions to the Northern Mongolia. In search of sites of Neolithic man, similar to Ulan-Khada on Baikal, in 1923 he had surveyed the eastern shore of Lake Kosogol (Khubsugul). The results of this expedition were briefly described by B.E. Petri in a small work «Ancient Lake Kosogol (Mongolia)» in 1926. On the basis of modern maps, the exploration routes of this expedition and the locations of 9 out of 10 pick-up points have been established. The finds collected by B.E. Petri, presented mainly fragments of ceramic vessels and objects made of stone, are now stored in the funds of the Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local History named after N.N. Muraviev-Amursky, making up a total of 5 collections (759, 760, 763, 764, 766) from 8 locations (Alaksyr, Dalbai, Anchikatan, Morin-Toskul, Noyn-Gol, Shoshul, Tana and Khanga). Among the fragments of ceramics, groups with mesh, cord, ribbed, waffle and smooth surfaces stand out. The ornament is represented by molded ridges, “pearls”, impressions of receding ornaments and drawn lines. The stone collection includes: flakes and blades with retouching and without traces of further processing, ski-shaped spalls, wedge-shaped and prismatic cores, tools (arrowheads, end-scrapers, side-scrapers, burins and combined tools). Based on the comparative and typological analysis of archaeological material, it was found that almost the entire collection from the eastern shore of Lake Khubsugul, collected by B.E. Petri in 1923, finds direct analogies in the materials of the sites and the burial grounds on Lake Baikal and dates back to the end of 7-yearof the summer millennium BC - the middle of the 1st thousand.

The authors discuss the results of carpological analysis of samples selected during the study of a building on the territory of a medieval settlement in the Сhersonesos-Сherson's surroundings. The archaeological resource is located in the southern part of the Heracles Peninsula (Sevastopol) in the middle reaches of the Berman's Gully on its northern slope. This archaeological site was discovered in 2018, its area is 0,73 hectares. The excavated building is located on one of the upper terraces in the central part of the settlement. The existence of the structure fits within the 9th –11th centuries. The building has two construction periods. At the same time, the completion of the first stage of the structure’s functioning is associated with its death as a result of a fire at the turn of the 9th –10th centuries. At this time, there were food supplies in the room. Based on the results of the analysis of selected samples from the layer of burnt plant residues, it was established that the main volume of them was formed by straw, chaff and grains of soft wheat. There are small quantities of rye and barley grains, as well as weed plants seeds. All this may indicate grain growing as a significant branch of agricultural activity for the inhabitants of this settlement. In classical granaries, chaff and straw are not the main components that are why the structure most likely was not a long-term storage granary, but were used for shortterm storage of crops. Such a predominance of straw and chaff remains may indicate the early stages of wheat threshing in a given area or the storage of threshing waste as feed for livestock. It can also be assumed that the presence of such a volume of straw may indicate that the roof of the room at the end of the first stage of operation was thatched, and as a result of a fire with its subsequent collapse, the straw was mixed with stored supplies.

The paper gives whole report on numismatic findings made in the process of excavations of archaeological sites of VII-X cen. in Primorski Territory of Russia. All coins found in sites of Mokhe and Bohai belong to one type - bronze “Kai-yuan Tongbao” coin of Tang Dynasty in China. These coins issued during VII-XI cen. are divided into variants attributed to early (621 - 20s years of VIII c.), middle (30s years of VIII c. - beginning of 40s years of IX c.) and late (846-907) periods, it allows to use them for rather detailed dating of sites. In some cases - in Konstantinovka-1 settlement and in Aurovka fortress, their findings confirm dating of dwellings by the time not earlier than Bohai state (698-926). Small number of coin findings indicates lack of development of monetary relations at Mokhe tribes and in Bohai State. In the latter, according to written sources, exchange by natural products used as money such as grain, textile and furs prevailed. Bohai people were acquainted with metal money, they used coins of China and Japan, but the role of money circulation in the country was insignificant in comparison with natural exchange. Numismatic materials of the Siniye Skaly site in Olginskiy District, where more than 20 pieces of coins were found, stand out against a general background. Location of this site near seashore and close to the mouth of Avvakumovka River, presence there of the glazed ceramics produced by Yueyao cilns in South China indicate its’ special role on the sea trade route.

The article examines the activities of the head of one of the first bodies for the rotection and preservation of historical and cultural heritage on the territory of the Irkutsk province (OHRIS department). The period from 1924 to 1934 is covered. This period of time is interesting as the period when the system of protection and preservation of archaeological heritage is being formed. In the Irkutsk province in 1920 an attempt was already made to register sites of culture, art and antiquity. The Irkutsk Museum of Local Lore played an important role in the process of forming a system of protection and preservation of heritage. In 1924, the Department for the Protection of Sites and Art (OHRIS) was created at the museum. The artist Philip Emmanuelovich Karantonis has been appointed to head the department as an inspector. The article analyzes the results of the work of the Department for the Protection of Historical and Antiquity Sites in the field of preservation of archaeological sites during this period. Special attention is paid to the characterization of the personality of Phillip Emmanuelovich Karantonis. A Greek by nationality, before accepting the position of inspector of the OHRIS department, he worked at the Irkutsk Museum of Local Lore for 9 years. He established himself as a responsible employee who was in good standing with the museum's management. He was a full member of the East Siberian Department of the Russian Geographical Society. However, his name seems to have been erased from the chronicle of society. His name is often mentioned negatively in publications and scientific articles, but it was under Philip Emmanuelovich Karantonis that all documents were formed and all necessary (and possible at that time) measures were taken to protect and preserve archaeological sites. It is concluded that the first inspector of the OHRIS department made an invaluable contribution to the formation of the system of preservation of historical and cultural heritage in the Irkutsk region.

The article deals with the changes of the cognitive orientations in the modern information society and rethinking of the processes of historical cognition. The approaches to the methodology of historical knowledge are analyzed on the basis of specific historical and philosophical material. Attention is focused on the discussion - whether history is a science. Approaching from the standpoint of the analysis of history as a science we dwell on the historical fact or rather on its theoretical loading. Taking as a basis the idea of post-positivists about the theoretical loading of the fact the interpretation of historical fact in the historical and philosophical context is traced. And if in modern scientific literature the theoretical loading of the fact is mainly considered on the example of natural Sciences, the article attempts to analyze the historical fact. There are conflicting interpretations of the same historical event in the age of information technology and the global Internet, and the responsibility of the authors is blurred. It is noted that the peculiarity of the historical fact is that in the formation it is a subject to the influence of methodological, value, ideological preferences of the researcher. The dialectics of the knowledge of historical fact is such that, on the one hand, it is impossible to observe it directly, but, on the other hand, the subjectivity of the author of the source which is then further enhanced by the subjectivity of the author of the study prevents the accurate knowledge of the real event of the past. The researcher’s belonging to the society and his worldview are the necessary conditions for the knowledge of the past in terms of modernity. All this strengthens the subjective moment from which it is almost impossible to be eliminated. And here we are talking about the chronotope of the historian – this time, the modern historian and the time of the historical event that he explore.

In the qualification registers of medical positions of the Russian Empire of the 19th century the lower medical ranks included medical students, paramedics, midwives and paramedics-midwives. In this list, the appearance of the term “medical student” is associated with the opening of the Moscow General Hospital and hospital school in 1707. The concept of “medical student” simultaneously denoted both the status of a student at a hospital school and the position of a doctor’s assistant. In the military department (army, navy) the complete transformation of the concept of “medical student” into the term “paramedic” dates back to the 40-s. In the 18th century, when garrison schools appeared, the students of these schools were sent to military hospitals for “exercises in supervising the sick”: dressing wounds, bloodletting, chiropractic care, etc. According to the data of the professor of the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy, the author of the first work on the history of medical education in Russia, Y.A. Chistovich, the most capable in training, after a 5-year term, were promoted to medical assistants, the remaining students were sent to receive the title of barber in military units. From the middle of the 18th century paramedics became a mandatory unit in every military hospital. However, for civilian medicine, the process of training paramedics was significantly extended in time and had variable content. In this article we will consider the features of the formation of paramedics in Eastern Siberia in the 19th century, we will determine the main measures to provide the region with lower medical ranks for civil (command) medicine, based on a wide range of sources introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, we will give a comparative description of the effectiveness of the measures.

The history of the appearance in Siberia and the beginning of the work of Jan Chersky in Irkutsk under the auspices of the Siberian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society contains to date a number of gaps. The reasons for them are the almost complete absence of surviving records of Jan Chersky chronologically covering the period of 1863-1871, and on the other hand, the presence of biographical descriptions that appeared after his death, including a large number of documented facts. The article provides an overview of all literary references published during Chersky's lifetime about the results of activities in Irkutsk, especially in terms of the theory of the origin of Lake Baikal. An attempt has also been made to clarify inconsistencies with the time of Chersky's appearance in Irkutsk. To substantiate the time of Chersky's appearance in Irkutsk at the beginning of 1871, information contained in scientific journals published by the Siberian Department in 1872, when his first publications were published there, is used. The attempts of the historian S.F. Koval are considered separately to clarify the time of Chersky's arrival in Irkutsk according to archival documents. The fallacy of the straightforward interpretation of archival materials, which does not allow taking into account the realities of that time is shown. A special section is devoted to the “mythology” associated with the appearance in popular scientific publications of the Soviet era of ideological cliches about Chersky as a revolutionary scientist and fighter against Tsarism. It is stated that speculation is unacceptable even for literary texts, for example, about meetings of Jan Chersky on the stage to Siberia with such famous Polish exiles as Shimon Tokarzhevsky, Alexander Chekanovsky and Nikolai Vitkovsky.

Political events in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century updated public discussions about the ways of development of the education system, including the quality of teaching in a lower school. It was entrusted not only with the functions of educating the masses and teaching them elementary skills (the ability to read, write, perform simple arithmetic operations), but also with the tasks of shaping the world outlook of the younger generation. The main discussions were held between supporters of the anthropological direction of pedagogy, who emphasized the priority of universal human values, and those who advocated strengthening the national component of the Russian school and recognized the correct (patriotic) presentation of historical knowledge as one of the strongest factors in the formation of the children's picture of the world. These disagreements determined the lack of consensus in public discourse regarding the study of the historical past of the native country as part of the short stay of students in the walls of primary schools. The proposed article analyses various approaches of Russian teachers to the content of education programs, to the methods and forms of teaching; characterizes the views of public representatives on the educational books used as manuals for lessons on national history. The thesis is confirmed that in the absence of a political consensus and the unified state policy on education, the scope and quality of history teaching depended entirely on the personality of the teacher and his worldview.

During the revolutionary period, a peculiar discovery of ancient Russian painting took place. For a long time, the ancient icon faded over time, so that it looked more bright and impressive, was renovated and prescribed. The most ancient paintings were hidden under a layer of the latest updates. In addition, ancient Russian art was considered primitive and crude. At the beginning of the 20th century, restoration artists began to clear such icons from old records. It is surprising that it was in the era of wars and revolutions that a peculiar discovery of ancient iconography took place. Gradually, collecting icons is becoming fashionable. Some figures of the Orthodox Church considered such a secular attitude towards church art unacceptable. But some church leaders and Patriarch Tikhon supported the restorers. The Patriarch even officially blessed the clearing of ancient icons. The most famous icons, including the works of Andrei Rublev, were cleared of later records at that time. At the same time, a kind of antique market of ancient Russian icons was formed. Collectors of ancient Russian icons, especially during the period of revolutions, often replenished their collections in obviously dishonest ways. In parallel with the discovery of ancient Russian art, there was also persecution, and subsequently the destruction of much of what was related to the Orthodox Church. The Bolsheviks called their policy on religious art “iconoclasm”. Icons were initially removed from public places where they hung. Then the icons began to burn. Restorers and connoisseurs of ancient Russian art were afraid that valuable icons would simply be destroyed. It seems that this is why some of the most famous icon connoisseurs were not against selling them abroad. Subsequently, icon painting began to be considered as folk art. And the icon turned from a once religious relic into one of the symbols of a secularized culture.

This article is devoted to the life and activities of Chief of the White Movement during the Russian Civil War - A.V. Kolchak, famous admiral and explorer of the Arctic in connection with his upcoming anniversary. It summarizes the main milestones of Kolchak’s biography, as well as the origin of his family. The article reveals the development of Kolchak as a scientist-polarist and as a military sailor, who became a known naval commander, reflects his contribution to the exploration of the Arctic seas including the development of the current Northern Sea Route, as well as contribution to the development of naval affairs. It shows the difficult path of the hero of publication in the political life of the country during the revolutionary events of 1917-1918 leading him to the very top of the White Movement, to the post of «Supreme Ruler of Russia». The article focuses on the analysis of the main policy guidelines of «Supreme Governor of Russia» on the future reconstruction of Russia after the victory over the Bolsheviks in the Civil War, that he was trying to use to rally the White Movement and to win people’s sympathies. It addresses the strengths and weaknesses of these policies. The article also describes the reasons for the complete failure of the Kolchak program of reconstruction of Russia and the subsequent collapse of the White Movement and its crushing defeat in the Civil War, wich caused the tragic and inglorious end of the extraordinary life path of A.V. Kolchak, a talented scientist and naval commander.

A deeper scientific understanding of the history of the Civil War is possible through the consideration of individual aspects as well as through the separation of information from interpretations. This article is intended to compare the activities of the opposing sides of the Civil War on the reorganization of troops from the autumn of 1919 to the end of 1920 in the East of Russia. First, a brief overview of the events of 1917-1918 is given, when the battles were either chronologically short or geographically limited. The anti-Bolshevik forces of the East of Russia were the first to call on the entire population of a certain age in August - September 1918. Previously, on May 29, 1918, the Bolsheviks legislatively provided for general mobilization, but the anti-Bolshevik forces of Siberia carried it out in practice before them. The final triumph of the Bolsheviks was ensured by such principles as consistency, scale and strict centralization. It is noted that in almost all operations on the Eastern Front, starting in the autumn of 1918, the Red troops invariably had twice as many machine guns and often one and a half times as much artillery. In detail, down to the divisions, the organizational structure of the warring parties as of the summer of 1919 is considered, indicating the reorganizations of that time. Up to 18 rifle divisions of one through numbering belonged to the Siberian ones and by formation, while 14 more rifle divisions with Volga and Ural names with another (non-Siberian) through numbering were derived from the People's Army of the Samara Komuch. The key organizational measures against the background of the fighting in Central Siberia in general and Eastern Transbaikalia in particular are considered. Previously unused historical sources about the plans for the reorganization of the White troops have been introduced into scientific circulation. Finally, conclusions about the importance of military organizational experience are drawn.

The transcripts of the First Regional Congress of Soviets of Siberia, held in December 1925, are an important historical source. In 1993, they were prepared for publication and published under the editorship of I.A. Moletotov. This article is devoted to comparing the vision and assessments of economic prospects expressed at the regional, district and district levels of government in Siberia during the period of the New Economic Policy. Information from reference and statistical publications and collections of documents were taken into account during the preparation. A general assessment of the historiographical situation is given, it is emphasized that reasoned generalizations, different concepts and interpretations are presented in the historical literature. The general public of Russia retains a significant interest in the history of the NEP, expressed in the publication of works of a scientific and journalistic nature. Opening the work of the First Regional Congress of Soviets of Siberia, Chairman of the Sibrevkom M.M. Lashevich stressed that lasting peace had been established in the region, that Siberia had been mostly restored and was firmly following the socialist path. The composition of the delegates and the work of the congress are briefly described. It was very successful, the Regional Executive Committee (Sibkray Executive Committee) was elected, headed by G.H. Eikhe, consisting of 81 people, and 27 more became candidates. The Congress renamed Novonikolaevsk to Novosibirsk. For an example of authoritative approaches to agriculture, the documentation of the Tulun District Land Administration for 1926/1927 is given, containing both retrospective data and a detailed description of the prospects. It is concluded that the geographical features of the territory were taken into account in economic planning, and further rationalization of the agricultural sector was seen in the development of emerging economic trends. At this time, unlike the subsequent period of forced collectivization, it was hoped to motivate peasants to increase economic productivity mainly by market methods.

Peer-reviewed collections are devoted to the history of censorship in Russia for many decades. It analyzes the formation of the “information society” and the problems of access to information; specific situations of censorship relations with Russian writers, publishing houses, newspapers and magazines, theaters; censorship of correspondence from prisoners of war during the Great Patriotic War and in the first years after its end. Memoirs of newspaper publishers as well as the documents, book reviews and reviews of various events on censorship issues and reference materials from the history of censorship are published.

In 2018 A.S. Pozdnyakova's monograph “Vyatka Province during the Civil War: Emergency Authorities” was published. In this paper, emergency management bodies in various spheres of society in a difficult period for the country are studied in detail. The review summarizes the main conclusions of the author. The research topic is really relevant both in scientific and sociopolitical aspects for modern society, which is fully justified by the author. One of the strengths of the monograph is an extensive source base of research, which includes several types of sources. In conclusion, it is emphasized that this monograph partly allows us to answer the question of how the Bolsheviks managed to retain power in the region and in the country as a whole.

Igor Vladimirovich Naumov, Professor of the Department of History and Philosophy, Honored Professor of the Irkutsk National Research Technical University, Honored Worker of the Higher School of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Historical Sciences, turned 70 on January 29, 2024. From 1977 to the present he has been working at Irkutsk Polytechnic, including from 1993 to 2016 as head of the Department of Russian History, having worked his way up from a laboratory assistant to a professor. The article presents the most vivid and systematic impressions of the hero of the day of his peers Yu.A. Petrushin and L.V. Korchevina, and one of the many students – P.A. Novikov, his successor as head. The main milestones of the labor and scientific biography are listed, the main achievements and titles of scientific works are indicated in detail. It is noted that already as a student I.V. Naumov had good reading and a wayward character. Throughout his life, the hero of the day carried a passion for tourism, for traveling, for learning about the world around him, nature, and historical sights of Russia. In the ascetic field of teaching in higher education, he proved himself to be a wonderful person, a brilliant historian, an excellent teacher, a strategically thinking organizer and leader, a productive scientific supervisor. Igor Vladimirovich saw his main task in awakening the interest of students in history. Pedagogical gift, scientific and research diligence, integrity and directness have earned well-deserved authority and universal respect. He showed a rare ability to sincerely rejoice in the successes of subordinates, spared no effort to create a favorable psychological climate at the department, organizing festive and leisure events, trips of colleagues to nature. I.V. Naumov embodies the ideal of a comprehensively developed personality.