Department of Preservation of Archaeological Heritage

Although the first new construction archaeological expedition was organized in the USSR as early as 1929, and extensive new construction work was carried out in the flooded zones of reservoirs on the Don and Volga in the mid-1950s, the Sector for New Construction and Contractual Expeditions as an independent division of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences was not established until 1972.

From 1984 to 1987, the Sector, together with the Sector for Archaeological Vaults, was part of the Archaeological Service Department, headed by V.V. Sedov. In 1987, the Sector was transformed into the Department of Protective Excavations. Over the years, the Sector, and then the Department, were headed by I.I. Artemenko, Yu.A. Krasnov, S.A. Belyaev, G.E. Afanasyev, and A.S. Smirnov. Today, it is headed by A.V. Engovatova.

Over more than 20 years of work, the department's staff has conducted dozens of expeditions to newly constructed sites across our country. These were most extensive in the 1970s and 1980s, in connection with major land reclamation projects in the south of the country, where the Don, North Caucasus, Stavropol, Volga, and Phanagoria expeditions worked.

Since 1990, the department's primary work has focused primarily on the construction of new highways and gas pipelines running through the northern and central regions of Russia.

In their research, the department's staff constantly utilizes computer-based data processing methods, creating databases and data banks. The department actively participates in organizing exhibitions of archaeological finds obtained during the Institute's expeditions. The department's research activities have resulted in nine monographs and over 160 articles published in Russia and abroad.

An important milestone in the work of the Department of Protective Excavations is the annual scientific seminar "Archaeology of the Moscow Region."

Department meetings are held on Mondays at the following address: Akademicheskaya metro station, 19 Dm. Ulyanova Street, office 31. Meetings begin at 12:00 PM.