Scientists from Russia, Poland, and France will study Siberia

29 January 2019

The new international research and educational center (REC) Institute of Archeology, Ethnography, and Physical Anthropology has opened at TSU. Scientists from Russia, Poland, and France will explore the peoples and cultures of Siberia from the Stone Age to modern times.

TSU Professor Maria Chernaya is the director of the REC, and the chairman of the board is Vyacheslav Molodin, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The REC includes the Department of Archeology and Historical Local History, the Laboratory of Archaeological and Ethnographic Research in Western Siberia, the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of Siberia, and the anthropology office.

- The REC integrates the divisions of the university with an archeological, ethnographic, and anthropological profile into a single interdisciplinary structure to consolidate resources and efforts to study peoples and cultures and historical processes in Siberia from ancient to modern times,- said Maria Chernaya. - It will serve to strengthen and develop strategic partnerships with academic science and international research centers.

One of the main tasks of the center in education is the expansion of enrollment in graduate school in archeology, including by attracting graduates from other scientific centers of Siberia. This will help TSU become the main platform for the training of qualified personnel for the entire region.

Another project will be creating a virtual museum of Siberian ancient history, which will give the opportunity to become familiar with unique funds whose collection began more than 140 years ago. The virtual museum will make it possible to see objects in three dimensions, read their descriptions, and learn the history of the find.

In addition, under a grant of the Russian Science Foundation, scientists will describe the processes of ethnocultural and biological adaptation of the Russian population of Siberia in the 17th -19th centuries. And in 2020, REC staff is planning to hold an international West Siberian archaeological and ethnographic conference.

The organization of the new REC Institute of Archeology, Ethnography and Physical Anthropology will strengthen the position of Tomsk science in the study of the history of Siberia and will contribute to the growth of the authority and influence of Tomsk State University in the Russian and international space.