Concerning the History of Russian Archaeology in the Studies of a.d. Pryakhin (for the 75th Anniversary of the Scholar)

This article overviews the contribution of a well known Russian archaeologist, A.D. Pryakhin, to research on the history of Russian archaeology of various periods, and shows the relationship between the topics studied by Pryakhin and his teaching activities. It is emphasized that Pryakhin both focused on the works of individual archaeologists and small-scale problems, and attempted to understand the trends in the development of the entire history of Russian archaeology. The article shows a distinctive aspect of Pryakhin's studies - their close link with the development of specific areas of archaeological research, most clearly manifested in his books and articles on the Bronze Age of the Eurasian steppes and forest-steppes, the emergence of archaeology in the region, and the study of southeastern frontiers of the Slavic world and Old Rus.