Despite the long history of research, the problem of reliable morphological identification of fossil canids still stands, especially for the early stages of wolf/dog domestication. Mandibles are best preserved in geological record. Their morphology mostly allows reliable species identification of fossil canid bone remains. Based on the reference wolf and domestic dog samples from recent populations, we developed a method of species identification of bone remains of large canid species (wolves and dogs) using the mandibular curvature index (DD-M index). For assessment of its reliability, it was applied to test a sample of large canid fossils from geological and archaeological contexts of Northern Eurasia within historical Russia. Chronologically, the sample covers the entire coexistence time of humans and dogs for past similar to 50,000 years. Remains of wolves, dogs, and transitional forms were identified. Their relationship over the time mirrors stages of dog domestication. Results can be considered as a certain support for the commensal hypothesis of dog domestication, or self-domestication through scavenging in human-created food niche. Over the entire length of coexistence, special human-canid relationship is observable (dog burials, man-created concentrations of skulls, other symbolic actions). Use of large dogs likely begins in the Late Glacial. Since then, dogs can be viewed as an economically significant cultural phenomenon. Diagnostic approach used in the study demonstrates its reliability; it is most effective when studying fossil samples of primitive dog (that is those which kept wolf-like traits, e. g. husky-like dogs) and wolf remains. Suggested criterion (DD-M index) is sufficiently universal and can be applied to the samples of different geography and temporal depth.
The history of piracy in the Caspian Sea in the first half of the 19th century remains mostly unstudied. Usually, scientific works just mention the fact itself of the Russian Empire's subjects capture in the Caspian. Moreover, there exists a notion in modern historiography that such piracy was directed, first and foremost, at the Persian settlements and fishermen. At the same time about 100 subjects of the Russian Empire have been identified, who were captured in the 1810s-1830s in the Caspian and ended up in slavery in Khiva. Based on the unpublished archival materials of the Joint State Archive of Orenburg Region (OGAOO), this article describes the capture of two Russian vessels by pirates in the Caspian Sea in 1835, and also the events related to it, including the rescue of one of these ships by Astrakhan fishermen. It shows that pirates had specific tactics against the Russians: they brought fugitives or captives of Russian descent with them so as to pass for a Russian vessel in distress. On the other hand, Astrakhan fishermen's munitions consisted not only of small arms, but cannons, and the fishermen took part in military actions against the nomads. Finally, the scale of piracy was such that the authorities didn't view the capture of several vessels and their crews, a total of about 20 people, in the fall of 1835 as an exceptional event.
The article is devoted to the little-studied subject of the memory of the Leningrad blockade - the commemorations of the food supply in 1941-1944 and the representation of this subject in the modern space of the city.The author, relying on archival and published sources, museum exhibits and on-site inspection of the buildings of food industry enterprises, analyses the origins of the formation and further development of the narrative about the humanitarian catastrophe that befell Leningrad residents during the Great Patriotic War. After 1952 the key activities aimed at preserving the memory of the siege of Leningrad were largely focused on building a heroic narrative about the defence and liberation of the city, which was reflected in both monumental culture and museum space. Since the late 1980s, there has been a new focus on the everyday life under siege, including the production and distribution of food, and the ways in which Leningraders survived the catastrophic shortage of resources. Together with the revived Museum of Defence, the Bread Museum was opened, the idea of which was based on the history of bread production in wartime. At the present stage, there is an attempt to build a victimisation narrative in the museum space, in which a significant place is given to symbols of the city's limited food supply. The analysis of monumental forms of representation of the memory of the blockade has shown that, despite the gradual shift of attention to everyday life, stories about the survival of the population in the conditions of famine are minimally represented in them.
In 2024, a catalogue of handwritten books of the 17(th)-20(th) centuries' Cyrillic tradition from the private collection of V. V. Smirnov was published, prepared by a scientific team of authors, and the owner of the collection is one of them. A special feature of this book's format is the inclusion in it a section covering various aspects of the study of ancient Russian literature, in addition to the catalogue itself, consisting of brief archaeographical descriptions of 186 manuscripts, as well as an album of images, indexes, a list of abbreviations, and so forth. Thematic articles in a scientific and at the same time quite entertaining form introduce the reader to the phenomenon of the Old Russian book, the features of its external appearance, and various aspects of its internal content. Most of the manuscripts in the collection were created by Old Believer scribes. The publication presents a review of various works of a polemical and didactic nature, as well as historical essays, eschatological and hagiographic texts, works of translated Byzantine literature, adapted translations of Western European essays, liturgical singing manuscripts notated with "kriuki", collections of spiritual verses. The descriptions of the works are accompanied by a historical analysis of the essays' time of the appearance, the current situation, disagreements among Old Believers on issues of dogma, and so forth., and a number of indexes prepared for the catalogue group and clarify valuable information about the copyists, owners of the manuscripts, the chronology of their creation. The publication of the catalogue introduces into scientific circulation a large number of new copies of various artefacts of Cyrillic literature.
The article presents the results of a comprehensive study of the wreck of the Russian ship-of-the-line "Portsmouth" (1719). 24 cannons were brought to the surface in 2024, which made it possible to reconstruct the ship's armament and the circumstances of its wreck. The conducted research combining the analysis of historical documents reflecting the history of the ship's construction and service with a detailed study of artifacts recovered from the seabed. The article describes main stages of the expedition, methods of archaeological work, and features of fixing and lifting artifacts, identification process of found cannons. The key point of the study was the analysis of cannon stamps. Five different types of stamps have been identified, including the monogram with the name of Peter I and the inscription "Anno 1713". The stamps "IEC" and the numbers "698", characteristic of the Jesper Eliaeson Ehrencreutz cannon factory in Sweden, were also found. These findings allowed us to establish that the Portsmouth was armed with both Russian and Swedish guns. The Portsmouth took part in the naval Battle of Ezel in 1719. Based on the analysis of the stamps, a hypothesis has been put forward about the possible captured origin of some of the cannons that ended up on board the "Portsmouth". The significance of the study is determined by the small number of preserved artifacts of early Russian naval artillery. The found guns represent unique samples of weapons from the Peter the Great era and allow us to reconstruct the history of the development of Russian naval power.
What remembered the inhabitance of Russia about Kievan Rus in 17th century? The researchers' opinions constitute a spectrum: from big interest of people of this century to the common past to the complete lack of interest. The authors analyze the 17(th) century sources in order to restore historical memory about Kievan Rus. Geographically the study covers the lands of Moscow state and the lands of Left Bank Ukraine, which were included in Russia. Various literary sources were considered, including mass sources as well as visual sources: book engravings, icon painting, monumental painting. It turned out that the mass perceptions of the population about Rus of 9(th)-12(th) and more early times are fragmentary and cover mainly the Christian period of Rus' and exploits of the saints. In the intellectual environment of book-men, the historical perceptions were undoubtedly wider. The bookmen, however, were more concerned with the recent past or the history of Moskow Rus. In the second half of the 17th century the interest to "its own history" increased on the different levels including church service, visual sources, historical writings. In the lands of Ukraine in 17th century the old history used in the religion and political struggle. An interest to Kiev as some center of holiness was more in Kievan church metropolis. "Antiquity" of Russia in "rebellious century" was the time of St. Vladimir. In most narratives, both secular and ecclesiastical and both writing and visual, glorified his image and the images of some other saints. But it took another two centuries for the complete recollection of Kievan Rus.
The 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg University has become a powerful incentive for researchers to intensify scientific research on various aspects of its rich history. The present study is devoted to such a relatively neglected subject in historiography as issues related to the retrospective analysis of economic factors in the life of the Russian higher school of the pre-revolutionary period. Using the example of the history of The Society of Assistance to Students of the Imperial St. Petersburg University founded in 1873 and existing until 1918, the features of the implementation of various financial initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life of students are shown, the role of the teaching staff, the university administration and the authorities in the success of such initiatives is shown. It was concluded that the history of The Society of Assistance to Students as a whole reflects the process of formation of a "civil society" in pre-revolutionary Russia, when a significant part of the population was ready to participate in various charitable initiatives. The authors also came to the conclusion about the contradictory influence of the socio-economic and political context of the epoch on Society. On the one hand, such initiatives met with a sincere response, and a high degree of self-organization allowed them to be successfully implemented. At the same time, the Society existed in a situation of political polarization of Russian society, which directly affected universities. Management ideas and projects of the Society's management often encountered the impossibility or difficulty of their implementation for purely political reasons.
The political and geopolitical struggle between the Grand Porte and Russia in the Northern Black Sea region led to mutual conflicts in the 17(th) century. It should be emphasized that it was an important turning point in the history of Eastern Europe that would influence the events of the 18(th) and 19(th) centuries. Border issues, attempts to conclude an alliance, military campaigns of the Turks and attempts to defend their territories (against the Holy League), the need to maintain their influence and power in the Black Sea, etc. were reflected in the Ottoman Empire's relations with Russia. All of this led to the emergence of mutual images and perceptions in this period. Images and perceptions of Russia in the 17(th) century in Turkish historiography are formed through the assessment of major events such as: the issue of the siege of Azov fortress (1637-1642), the Chigirin campaigns (1676-1681) and the Holy League against the Turks and the balance of power between the states in the Northern Black Sea region. In this study, we examine the images and perceptions of Russia in the 17(th) century (such as Russia was a great threat to the Turks in the Black Sea, the Moscow state, the first Russo-Turkish war, etc.) available in Turkish historiography. Given the low availability of these publications in Russia, we have endeavored to show interesting views as well as existing opinions of Turkish historiography - representatives of a different community and tradition.
The Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) played an important role in Japan's defence perimeter in Southeast Asia during the Pacific War, particularly between 1942 and 1945. Java's strategic importance necessitated the establishment of defence and monitoring positions on the island, contributing to Japan's outermost perimeter in the southern Asia-Pacific region. We argue that one of Japan's defence points on the island of Java is located near Pangandaran Beach, which contains numerous archaeological remains from World War II. This study aims to uncover the Imperial Japanese military defence system based on archaeological evidence from Pasir Putih Hill (Bukit Pasir Putih) in the Pananjung Protected Forest Area, Pangandaran Beach, West Java. The research, which utilizing an archaeological-historical approach that combines archaeological techniques with historical source analysis, reveals that the Japanese defence system at Bukit Pasir Putih consisted of four key elements: bunkers, machine gun emplacements, trenches, and dugouts. These defensive structures were arranged in an all-around hill defence pattern, with strong points scattered around the hill near the beach. A network of trenches connected the bunkers, machine gun emplacements, and dugouts. The Imperial Japanese military strategically built the defence system, utilizing the natural karst landscape of the hills. The Bukit Pasir Putih defences likely served as the southernmost surveillance post on Pangandaran Beach, positioned to monitor and counter potential Allied movements from the Indian Ocean toward the west coast of Pananjung, Pangandaran, West Java.
The article examines the textbooks on the national history of the Central Asian states (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan). The analysis focuses on the features of the presentation of material on similar historical events in history textbooks on the states of the former Soviet republics. The analysis of the presentation of historical events serves as the basis for identifying both similarities and significant differences in the presentation of the material. Thus, the authors of the textbooks (covertly or openly) implement the intention that the people have an "external enemy", in opposition to which the national identity of the Central Asian peoples - the Kyrgyz, Tajiks and Uzbeks - is built. In the case of Tajik history textbooks, the Uzbeks are presented as such, while in the case of Uzbek and Kyrgyz history textbooks, it is the Russian people. Based on this dichotomy, the interaction of peoples with the Russian Empire, and then the Soviet Union, is understood. In the history textbooks of Tajikistan, the Soviet experience is viewed positively, while in the history textbooks of Uzbekistan, the period of the existence of the Uzbek SSR is interpreted exclusively as negative. In the history textbooks of Kyrgyzstan, the Soviet experience is also viewed as predominantly negative, but without indicating the Russian people as a consistent conductor of Soviet policy. The author comes to the conclusion that the tendentiousness of the interpretations of historical events is largely determined by the challenges that the political elites of the Central Asian states faced during the period of independence.
The article discusses M. M. Speransky's financial projects to reform the monetary system of the Russian Empire. The sources of the research are his projects and program notes. The author focuses on the change in the concept of Speransky's financial reform plan in the 30s of the 19th century. Attention is paid to the influence of the remarks of the famous financiers E. F. Kankrin and K. F. Drutsky-Lyubetsky on his views. This influence is presented as a stimulator for the development of Speransky's ideas about financial reform. These changes occurred against the background of his regular independent work on the monetary reform plan in the 1930s. M. M. Speransky's latest reform project, the note "On Coin Circulation" (1839), is presented as a result of the theoretical reform work aimed at creating a system of silver monometallism in Russia, which became part of the conceptual basis of the monetary reform of 1839-1843. This document is valuable not only for the quality of the thoughts expressed in it, but also for the figure of the author, whose authority was very significant in the society that was preparing financial reform. The article concludes that M. M. Speransky and his project activities had a tremendous impact on the emergence and development of the reform process in the field of finance, which resulted in the establishment of a solid system of silver monometallism in Russia.
A social conflict continued to simmer in Freiburg between the two major events in the city's history - the rejection of the draft city charter of 1275 and the adoption of the official charter of 1293. At the same time as the communal movement, the middle-class merchants and artisans were struggling for access to power. It was at this time that the lord of the city attempted to enact the draft of 1275 and its supplements. The supplements, like the draft itself, sought to limit the power of the Junior Council, the oversight body of the city government. Another aim of the legislators in drafting the supplements was to consolidate the power of the local lord. The city community and the Junior Council rejected both the drafts themselves in 1275 and the supplements in 1282. It was only after the peace between the lord of Freiburg and the king (1281) that it was possible to draw up the supplements to the drafts. The citizens of Freiburg bore the brunt of the compensation for the prolonged hostilities, and the lord of Freiburg became an ally of Rudolf I of Germany. In 1283 king granted Freiburg its own charter of liberties. Although this charter was in fact official, it was never formally implemented. Twice, in 1283 and 1289, the monarch pacified the warring parties. The citizens were ready to revolt, unhappy with the lord's financial abuse of the people of Freiburg. Efforts by the authorities were in vain until the Freiburg middle classes compromised with their lord and his ally, the patriciate.
The article examines and analyzes in detail the publications in the "Black Hundred" press of the period of the First World War, which caused a violent public reaction and served as the basis for accusing the Russian right of Germanophilism. The reaction to these publications by both the liberal and conservative press is shown. The article analyzes the validity of the accusations of the entire Russian right camp of Germanophilism and betrayal of Russia's national interests. The author comes to the conclusion that the scandalous Black Hundred publications in the conditions of the war with Germany looked provocative, but were not literally Germanophile. All three articles were written not for apology of the Kaiser, the Hohenzollern dynasty and, moreover, Germany at war with Russia, but solely for the sake of protecting the monarchical principle and preventing the transformation of anti-German sentiments into anti-dynastic ones. In addition, these publications did not express the public position of the majority of the Russian right during the war years and were an exception to the general rule. However, due to circumstances (the pre-war pro-German foreign policy orientation of the Black Hundreds, as well as the Germanophobia that engulfed Russian society and the desire of the opposition press to discredit their political opponents) these publications of the Black Hundred press became favorable ground for accusing the entire right-wing camp and its leaders of Germanophilism, sympathy for the monarch of a hostile power and aspirations for a separate peace.
In the 1(st)-2(nd) millennia AD, a compactly distributed group of sites with materials represented mainly by scrapers on large pebble flakes stands out in the Northern Far East. Within the region, this cultural tradition has not received a common name; it is described under different names in different areas. Classification, archaeological, and ethnic definitions of this material are very vague, making their cultural identification difficult. Most sites of this tradition contain surface or mixed material and only some have radiocarbon dated. In the Northern Far East, sites with pebble scrapers dated to the 1st-2nd millennia AD were considered within the framework of the "Undeveloped Iron Age", "Remnant Neolithic", or "Early Metal", noting that although they do not constitute a single culture, they nevertheless exhibit certain coevolutionary traits. A full analysis of these materials has not yet been carried out. The materials considered in the article fill the gaps in this issue. These materials are considered in the same cultural-chronological categories within the framework of the problem of reindeer herding origin. Paradigms of varying degrees of probability are being developed about the connection between the sites containing pebble scrapers / side scrapers, with the spread of reindeer herding in the Northern Far East, based on the presumed need to process large quantities of reindeer skins as a result. Preliminary, these sites are combined into a group called the "pebble scraper culture" probably representing various ethnic groups that existed in different territories, but at about the same time.
The article examines such a key stage of the constitutional reform of 1905-1906 as a Meeting chaired by Emperor Nicholas II on the revision of Fundamental State Laws. Previous researchers of the April Meeting relied solely on its minutes, and therefore covered the activities and results of the Meeting selectively, rather than completely. In contrast, the author of this article uses previously unknown clerical materials, which were deposited thanks to P. A. Kharitonov, who served as a member of the clerk of the Meeting. The author comes to the conclusion that from the point of view of their specific weight, not all chapters of the draft Council of Ministers, and within them - not all articles were equivalent to each other. For this reason, the participants of the Meeting, at the suggestion of its chairman, paid primary attention to the articles of Chapter One, in which the royal prerogatives were legislatively consolidated. The author concludes that most of the changes made to the draft Council of Ministers were liberal in nature, while a minority were conservative. The most significant changes concerned, first of all, the articles on the prerogatives of the emperor, and in the direction of their narrowing, with which Nicholas II, during the Meeting, repeatedly agreed. The results of the Meeting led to the fact that its participants formed two wings: the liberal-monarchical and the conservative-monarchical, but the tsar, although he balanced between the two, as a rule, in most cases inclined towards the liberal-monarchical.
The author examines the history of the emigrant public institution - the Petrograd association of fellow-countrymen. For the first time its genesis has been revealed, the list of its members has been analyzed and the relationship with the umbrella organization - the Union of the association of fellow-countrymen - has been described. The author comes to the conclusion that, being one of the non-political institutions, the association of fellow-countrymen in 1922-1924 provided targeted support to the educated part of the population of Petrograd. Initially, it was parcels delivered to Russia through the mediation of the American Relief Administration, then, after the completion of the Soviet program in March 1923, the association of fellow-countrymen community began to use the services of the Nansen's organization, and after it was also liquidated, helped those in need with remittances. The suspension of charity happened due to the intensification of the bolshevik terror against the dissidents and the so called "disenfranchised". The fact of participation in the association of fellow-countrymen of famous personalities with perfect reputations, including women, con-tributed to the growth of its popularity among the emigrants and the French. A significant obstacle was the shortage of funds caused, by the way, by the constant failures to collect the membership fees. Therefore, to replenish the funds, the association of fellow-countrymen organized all sort of entertainment events, that attracted the French public and the Russian diaspora in Paris. However, the largest financial injections came from the Union of the associations of fellow-countrymen and from the Russian Public Committee in France to help the famine-stricken in Russia.
In late December 1949, the Soviet Union held a trial in Khabarovsk for war criminals responsible for preparing and conducting biological warfare, revealing to the international community that Japanese militarists had used prisoners of war for vivisection experiments. The Khabarovsk trial addressed key shortcomings of the Tokyo trial, serving as a pivotal example of holding war criminals accountable and contributing to the adoption of the indefinite Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction. It became the world's first public trial focused specifically on biological warfare crimes. Following World War II, the United States, seeking to monopolize information on Japanese biological weapons, obstructed Soviet attempts to bring those responsible to justice. In response, the Soviet Union decided to proceed the trial independently. After a thorough investigation, an indictment was prepared against twelve war criminals, including Otoz & omacr; Yamada. The military tribunal was led by D. D. Chertkov, L. N. Smirnov was the state prosecutor. Drawing on the experience of international justice, the Soviet Union structured the trial and proceeded in an orderly fashion. The Khabarovsk trial not only defended humanity and contributed to the advancement of international law, but also represented, alongside the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials, the anti-fascist coalition's justice system. It played a vital role in preserving objective historical memory and effectively countering efforts to distort the historical record of World War II.
Despite the long history of research, the problem of reliable morphological identification of fossil canids still stands, especially for the early stages of wolf/dog domestication. Mandibles are best preserved in geological record. Their morphology mostly allows reliable species identification of fossil canid bone remains. Based on the reference wolf and domestic dog samples from recent populations, we developed a method of species identification of bone remains of large canid species (wolves and dogs) using the mandibular curvature index (DD-M index). For assessment of its reliability, it was applied to test a sample of large canid fossils from geological and archaeological contexts of Northern Eurasia within historical Russia. Chronologically, the sample covers the entire coexistence time of humans and dogs for past similar to 50,000 years. Remains of wolves, dogs and transitional forms were identified. Their relationship over the time mirrors stages of dog domestication. Results can be considered as a certain support for the commensal hypothesis of dog domestication, or self-domestication through scavenging in human-created food niche. Over the entire length of coexistence, special human-canid relationship is observable (dog burials, man-created concentrations of skulls, other symbolic actions). Use of large dogs likely begins in the Late Glacial. Since then, dogs can be viewed as an economically significant cultural phenomenon. Diagnostic approach used in the study demonstrates its reliability; it is most effective when studying fossil samples of primitive dog (that is those which kept wolf-like traits, e. g. husky-like dogs) and wolf remains. Suggested criterion (DD-M index) is sufficiently universal and can be applied to the samples of different geography and temporal depth.
The article concentrates on recent trends in the Early Modern Irish studies as they are presented in monograph by Steven G. Ellis and proceedings of the interdisciplinary conference published under the editorship of Coleman A. Dennehy. S. Ellis is one of the few contemporary historians whose versatile erudition and remarkable commitment are complemented by his ability to put forward unconventional ideas and to substantiate them convincingly. Conceptwise, Ellis is at variance with his predecessors, and his book aims at reconsidering the established stereotypes in the historiography. It equally concerns the questions pertaining to the emergence of the term "The English Pale"; the nature, structure, and the expanse of its territory; and the functions of its fortifications which formed the exterior boundaries. Of no less importance is the approach which Ellis adopts to the evaluation of this phenomenon as a parallel to the policy of the English monarchs to other frontier societies located in the western and northern regions of the kingdom. The perspective connecting the Irish case and certain tendencies in the state-formation process given the specificity of the Tudor multiple monarchy seems very promising. Since 1960s scholars have been specifically addressing legal issues in their studies related not only to the evaluation of causes, events, and consequences of the war of three kingdoms of the mid-17(th) century, but also - to the collective consciousness of the contemporaries. In this sense, the conference proceedings published under the editorship of Coleman A. Dennehy go beyond traditional studies and offer an Irish perspective on the legal institutions and processes.
Ivan the Terrible's image was an essential element of his legacy to Muscovy.Previous studies have either been confined to a single text or just cite a few selected texts without attempting to integrate their images of Ivan. This study analyzes 33 texts. Because texts and manuscripts from Ivan's lifetime (1533-1584) continued to be read and copied after his death, the first period discussed is his reign. Because nothing could be written about Ivan IV during the reign of his son, Tsar Fedor Ivanovich, which could not have been written during Ivan's lifetime, Fedor's reign constitutes the second period (1584-1598). The third period is post 1598 but in effect from the ascension of the Romanovs, 1613, which terminated Ivan's status as above reproach in Muscovy, to the end of the 17th century. Sources are categorized as favorable, apologetic (making excuses for Ivan's acts deserving criticism), and unfavorable. This heuristic device enables us to appreciate that favorable and unfavorable evaluations of Ivan can be found in equal numbers throughout the 17th century. That realization permits examining the oddity that although, up to the 1670s, unfavorable sources written in Muscovy attribute the sins and evils of a muchitel' to Ivan IV, they do not call him a muchitel'. Only sources written in emigration by Prince Andrei Kurbskii and Grigorii Kotoshikhin used that derogative term. But in the 1670s manuscripts of Kurbskii's "History" do appear in Muscovy. The earlier reticence to call Ivan IV a muchitel' and the later willingness to do so cannot be explained by changes in Muscovite political thought in the second half of the 17th century. This pattern of the "missing muchitel'" requires explanation.
