Governorate Statistical Committees in the History of Russian Archaeology

Abstract

Provincial statistical committees of the Ministry of Interior Affairs were the fi rst before the October Revolution of 1917 and the only state institution in the Russian province, which from time to time engaged in history, archaeology and archaeography. Since the 1860s, these offi cial authorities occasionally received instructions from the Ministry to compile information on the antiquities of their governorates, and then often worked with ancient monuments on their own initiative. Besides, their archival funds and printed publications have accumulated extensive information on accidental fi nds of antiquities and various archaeological objects. One of the most active institutions was the Statistical Committee in Kursk. Its activity and relationships with other committees allow the statistical committees to be recognized as a form of civil society, where offi cials, academics and members of the public studied and preserved traces of the distant past.

Keywords

• archaeology of the country’s regions
• civil society in the russian empire
• domestic statistics
• governorate statistical committees