Alexey Pavlovich Okladnikov (; 1908–1981) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, and ethnographer, an expert in the ancient cultures of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and the Pacific Basin. He was elected a full member of the

Academy of Sciences of the USSR The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (u ...

in 1968, and awarded the honorary title of the Hero of Socialist Labor in 1978. The childhood of the scientist took place in Biryulka village in Siberia. From 1938 to 1961, Okladnikov worked in the Leningrad Division of the Archeology Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 1961 Head of the Division of Human Research of the Economics Institute, Siberian Division of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 1966 he was the director of the Institute of History, Philology and Philosophy, Siberian Division of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Since 1962 Professor and Head, Department of History, of Novosibirsk State University. His works include research on ancient history of

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, and

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. He identified numerous cultures of the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

, and Iron Ages in Siberia and the Far East. A. P. Okladnikov taught field studies in

, the

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

and

. In 1971 he supervised excavations at Zashiversk and the relocation of the historic Spaso-Zashiverskaya Church to

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

, where it is now displayed. He excavated and studied remnants of

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

culture in

Teshik-Tash Teshik-Tash 1 is a Neanderthal skeleton discovered in 1938 in Teshik-Tash Cave, in the Bajsuntau mountain range, Uzbek SSR (Uzbekistan), Central Asia. The remains were discovered in 1938 by A. P. Okladnikov. They were found in a shallow pit, ...

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

, Paleolithic remnants in Priamurye and

, as well as

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

on the banks of the

Lena River The Lena is a river in the Russian Far East and is the easternmost river of the three great rivers of Siberia which flow into the Arctic Ocean, the others being Ob (river), Ob and Yenisey. The Lena River is long and has a capacious drainage basi ...

and the Angara River In 1945 Okladnikov examined the remains of a Russian polar expedition base left in 1617 in the Faddey Islands off the north-eastern coast of the

Taymyr Peninsula The Taymyr Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula in the Far North of Russia, in the Siberian Federal District, that forms the northernmost part of the mainland of Eurasia. Administratively it is part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Federal subject of Russia. Ge ...

, where he also made other discoveries. He is the author of the ''Summary on the History of Ancient Society and the Ancient Culture of Paleolitic and Neolithic Art, the History of Siberia, the Far East and the Far North''. The museum of

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...

is named the "Okladnikov Museum" in his honour.

Works

*
The Soviet Far East in Antiquity: An Archaeological and Historical Study of the Maritime Region of the U.S.S.R.
' (1965) *Окладников А.П. и др. "Древний Зашиверск", Москва, 1977 *Okladnikov, Alexei "Art of the Amur : Ancient Art of the Russian Far East", New York, 1982

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okladnikov, Alexey 1908 births 1981 deaths People from Irkutsk Oblast People from Irkutsk Governorate Russian ethnographers Soviet ethnographers Soviet archaeologists Soviet historians Academic staff of Novosibirsk State University Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the USSR State Prize Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour Burials at Yuzhnoye Cemetery (Novosibirsk)

Works

See also

Notes