"...our southern Volga region is a cemetery of high material culture and in this respect is exceptional in the richness of archaeological material" B. V. Zaykovsky 1 The study of the Volga-Don interfluve, its natural features, and the peoples inhabiting the region was addressed in ancient times (Herodotus, Strabo, and Ptolemy). Later, merchants, travelers, trade agents, and diplomats wrote about the region. Of particular importance were the results of research conducted by expeditions of the Academy of Sciences at the end of the XVIII century, and their results were summarized in the works of academicians I. I. Lepekhin, S. G. Gmelin, I. A. Guldenstedt, P. S. Pallas, and I. P. Falk. In the 19th century, the region was studied by well-known historians N. I. Kostomarov and G. I. Peretyatkovich. Some problems of the history of the Volga-Don steppes are covered in the fundamental works of leading Russian historians of the XIX century N. M. Karamzin, S. M. Solovyov, N. A. Polevoy, V. O. Klyuchevsky. In the 19th century, local historians collected a large amount of information on the history of the region. The most famous researchers: Bishop Iakov of Saratov and Tsaritsyn, R. A. Fadeev, G. S. Sablukov, A. N. Minkh, F. F. Chekalin, N. F. Khovansky, B. V. Zaikovsky. The first finds of "antiquities" in the region were associated with the excavations of treasure hunters, the so-called bugrovschiki. Reports of the finds prompted local authorities and local historians to start archaeological research. Surveys and excavations were carried out on the site of the Golden Horde cities, ancient mounds, and lifting material was collected. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, local archaeologists (S. A. Shcheglov, A. A. Krotkoe, A. A. Spitsyn, V. F. Orekhov, and B. V. Zaikovsky) prepared the ground for large-scale scientific research in the 20th century, which opened unknown pages in the history of the Volga-Don steppes. The territory of the Volga-Don interfluve includes the south-eas ... Читать далее