Actio in Distans: South American Studies in Russian Archaeology. Part I

Research interests of Russian archaeologists have never been limited geographically. In different years, there were successful efforts of archaeological projects in many countries: Iraq, Syria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Cuba, Vietnam, Norway, Afghanistan et al. Explorations in South America began in the beginning of XIXth century by expeditions of Russian naturalists and ethnographers. Archaeological investigations on the continent has continued with varying success to the present day, but has encountered many difficulties, not least due to political and logistic factors. The purpose of this and the next articles is to review the history of South American studies in Russia. The main publication subjects and research approaches will be reviewed. This article focuses on the history of Russian archaeological research in South America in the period from the beginning of the XIXth century to the 1990s. For almost 150 years, Russian specialists have not only gained knowledge about the archaeology and ancient history of South America, but also participated in the first expeditions to the continent and addressed the actual research problems of South American archaeology. In spite of the small number of archaeologists focused on Pre-Columbian South America, they effectively studied archaeology of the entire region, but mostly from the literature, with no access to artifacts. At the same time, there were limitations in publishing in foreign languages and difficulties in organizing archaeological projects on the continent.