Археология евразийских степей (Feb 2024)

Contribution of Aida Grigorievna Petrenko to the Development of Archeozoological Research in the Volga-Urals Region

  • Madina Sh. Galimova ,
  • Gulshat Sh. Asylgaraeva

DOI
https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2024.1.8.18
Journal volume & issue
no. 1
pp. 8 – 18

Abstract

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The article is devoted to the 90th anniversary of the birth of Aida Grigoryevna Petrenko, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Honored Scientist of the Republic of Tatarstan, the largest specialist in the field of archaeozoology of the Volga-Ural region. The authors consider the scientific contribution of the scientist to the development of archaezoological research. For 45 years, A.G. Petrenko's activities took place together with archaeologists, first within the walls of the Kazan branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and then the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan. A.G. Petrenko analyzed osteological materials from sites of the Bronze Age, Early Iron and Early Middle Ages. Then she expanded the scope of her scientific interests and began to study the economic activities of the population of the cities of Volga Bulgaria and medieval Kazan, as well as the ritual role of animals according to archaeozoological finds in ancient and medieval burial grounds of the Middle Volga region and the Urals, she paid special attention to the remains of a horse in the burials of nomads. Professor V.I. Tsalkin, the largest representative of archaeological zoology and paleontology, played an important role in the scientific formation of A.G. Petrenko. In 1967, A.G. Petrenko defended her PhD thesis "On the history of domestic animals among the ancient population of the Volga–Kama region (according to the osteological material of archaeological sites)", and in 1985 – her doctoral dissertation "Morphology of bones of the skeleton of farm animals in connection with the development of animal husbandry in the Middle Volga region and the Urals for the period from V thousand to the middle II thousand BC". A.G. Petrenko has published more than a hundred scientific papers, she is the author of six monographs and a handbook. Aida Grigorievna's scientific works received international recognition, in 1990 she was elected a member of the International Committee of Archaeozoologists (IGAZ). A.G. Petrenko was the initiator and inspirer of the serial publication "Archaeology and Natural Sciences of Tatarstan".

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