I.V. Belozerova^1,*, P.G. Gaydukov^2,**, S.V. Kuzminykh^2,***

¹The State History Museum, Moscow, Russia
²Institute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow, Russia
*E-mail: irina.belozero@yandex.ru
**E-mail: russianchange@yandex.ru
***E-mail: kuzminykhsv@yandex.ru 

Keywords: Russian / State Academy for the History of Material Culture, Institute for the History of Material Culture, Moscow Division, Moscow Branch, Museum Department of the People’s Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR, Institute of Archaeology and Art History, RANION, State Historical Museum.

The article covers the period of formation of the modern Institute of Archaeology RAS as the Moscow Division of the Russian Academy for the History of Material Culture (RAIMK) – The State Institute for the History of Material Culture (GAIMK) (1919–1929) and the Moscow Branch of GAIMK – The Institute for the History of Material Culture (IIMK) (1932–1945). Their history is examined in the context of relations with the head institution in Leningrad and against the background of the social and political situation in the country. Self-organization and consolidation of Moscow archaeologists ran within the organizational framework of the Moscow Division and the Moscow Branch, as well as the Institute of Archaeology and Art History of the Russian Association of Research Institutes of Social Sciences (RANION), the State Historical Museum and the Institute of Anthropology of Moscow State University in the 1920–40s. By the end of the 1920s, the Institute of Archaeology and Art History and the Moscow Division ceased their activities as organizational and research units. For a short time, the State Historical Museum and the Institute of Anthropology of MSU remained the key research units of Moscow archaeologists, until the GAIMK decided to open a branch in Moscow again in 1932. With the transformation of GAIMK into the IIMK of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1937, the Moscow Branch turned into a powerful research structure. Contradictions with the head institute in Leningrad might have led both teams to a break in 1941. The War and blockade caused irreparable damage to the Leningrad part of the Institute. In the early 1945, by decision of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences, the Moscow section of the IIMK became the main archaeological institution of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

DOI: 10.31857/S086960630007219-9