Archaeological Collection of the Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg (1872 – 1932)

Abstract

Based on archival documents, the paper discusses the history of the formation of the archaeological collections of the Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg, primarily related to the activities of N. E. Brandenburg, who was head of the museum since 1872. Fascinated by archaeology and seeking to replenish the museum's collection with ancient and medieval weapons, he began large-scale excavations in the South-Eastern Ladoga region, the Dnieper region and other regions of the Russian Empire. Some of the materials obtained during these excavations were sent to the Artillery Museum. A considerable number of items were also transferred by the Imperial Archaeological Commission, which financed some of Brandenburg’sstudies, as well as the Russian Archaeological Society. In 1889, the museum opened to public, and over time, more and more archaeological materials appeared in its exposition. In 1902, a guide-catalog of the prehistoric department was published, which was dominated by exhibits from later epochs. The exhibition included the burials of medieval nomads with a horse, carved with a monolith “in situ”. This was one of the first experiments of this kind in the Russian museum business. Archaeological items continued to arrive from the Archaeological Commission even after the death of N. E. Brandenburg, thanks to the activities of the new head of the museum P. D. Strukov and his assistant N. M. Pechenkin, who headed the museum in 1917. By 1912, the total number of archaeological artifacts in the exhibition had reached 1250. The collections were severely damaged during the flood of 1924 and had been transferred to the State Hermitage Museum by 1932.

Keywords

• archaeology
• museum collections
• artillery museum
• n.e. brandenburg
• n.m. pechenkin