Kazan archaeological school: research results and development prospects

Basic stages of Kazan archaeological school development are traced from its origin, which was connected to the Society of Archaeology, History and Ethnology with Kazan University (1878 – early 1930s). The establishment of Kazan Institute of Language, Literature and History in 1939 (from 1945 as part of Kazan Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences) started the formation of Kazan archaeological school. At the beginning, its representatives worked in the sector of History, Institute of Language, Literature and History, Kazan branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (until 1962), and then joined the sector of Archaeology and Ethnography (1962–1986). Later on, the Department of Archaeology (1986–1995) was created, subsequently (in 1995) transformed into the National Center of Archaeological Research with the Institute of History named after Sh. Marjani of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences. In July, 2013, the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences was established on the basis of the Center. The archaeology of Tatarstan was developing in the framework of three basic directions: 1) entire investigation prospecting of the region aimed at creating the most exhaustive list of archaeological monuments of the Middle Volga River region; 2) stationary investigations the prehistoric and medieval sites, first of all historically known Volga Bulgaria towns, rural settlements and necropolises; 3) studies in the sphere of ethnogenesis and ethnic history, interaction between the cultures of the Turkic and Finno-Ugric peoples of the region. For the next 5 years (2014–2018) the researchers of the Institute plan to develop the following trends: I. the medieval Turkic-Tatar civilization of Eurasia; II. prehistorical archaeology of the Volga-Kama region: genesis and interaction of cultures; III. GIS technologies in archaeology; IV. natural science research methods in archaeology; V. conservation and systematization of archaeological objects.