Abstract
The article deals with the history of so-called “Soviet-American Archaeological Expedition” (“Russian project”) of the State Academy of the Material Culture History (Leningrad) and the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) to explore the ‘cave city’ of Eski-Kermen in the Crimea in 1933. E.A. Golomshtok, a Russian emigrant, was the initiator of the project, on the American side. Since 1931 he was in contact with several Soviet academic institutions and researchers, V.A. Gorodtsov, M.P. Gryaznov, and others. Golomshtok’s academic interests were the Paleolithic sites, as well as the ethnology of the peoples of the North. Based on Golomshtok’s correspondence with Gorodtsov, archival documents and memoirs of researchers, it was established that the idea of an expedition to the Crimea arose by chance when Golomshtok visited Leningrad in 1933. The scholar viewed it as an opportunity to obtain anthropological material for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in order to exchange it for collections of other artifacts that interested the American side. Golomshtok was the only American in the expedition. Development of research plans for the expedition, management of fi eld work, etc. were carried out by Soviet researchers, N.I. Repnikov, F.I. Shmitt, and others. Considering the obligations to the American side, the main attention was paid not to the study of the medieval Eski-Kermen, but to the search for the “Gothic skulls”. Anthropological material and most of the fi nds from the burials were taken abroad. The participation of the American side was formal, related not to the research goals of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, but to the personal interests of Golomshtok. He made a negative impression on his Soviet colleagues, in particular on Gorodtsov, whose materials he used without the scholar’s permission for his publications. Thus, the first attempt to establish Soviet-American scientific ties in the archaeology has to be considered unsuccessful.
Keywords
Archaeology, Crimea, Eski-Kermen, State Academy of the Material Culture History, E.A. Golomshtok.
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