Artemiy Vladimirovich Artsikhovsky () (December 26 (December 13, O.S.), 1902 — February 17, 1978) was a Russian 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, ...

and

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 ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

(since 1937), head of the department of archaeology (since 1939) of the

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

, the discoverer of

birch bark manuscript Birch bark manuscripts are documents written on pieces of the outer layer of birch bark, which was commonly used for writing before the mass production of paper. Evidence of birch bark for writing goes back many centuries and appears in various c ...

s in

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

Corresponding member The corresponding member is one of the possible membership types in some organizations, especially in the learned societies and scientific academies. This title existed or exist in the Soviet Union, GDR, Polish People's Republic, Czechoslovak S ...

of the

USSR Academy of Sciences 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 ...

, recipient of the

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

(1970, 1982 (posthumously)).

Academic contribution

Artsikhovsky developed the methodology and methods of source study analysis, introduced a general course of archeology into the university program. On July 26, 1951, Artsikhovsky's discovered the first birch-bark writing, which began the study of a new side of the history of local peoples at the Nerevsky excavation site. The fact that in the Middle Ages there were letters on birch bark was known before, but it was believed that they were written in ink and, therefore, it was impossible to count on their safety. Letters found by Artsikhovsky showed that the text was squeezed out and scratched on them. A new unique source on the history of the Middle Ages has appeared.

Books

*Курганы вятичей, М., 1930; *Древнерусские миниатюры как исторический источник, �. 1944 *Введение в археологию, 3 изд., М., 1947 *Основы археологии, 2 изд., М., 1955 *Новые открытия в Новгороде, М., 1955 (in Russian and French) *Новгородские грамоты на бересте, т. 1–6, М., 1953–63.

References

Archaeologists from Moscow 1902 births 1978 deaths Soviet historians Soviet archaeologists Academic staff of Moscow State University Rossiyskaya arkheologiya editors Russian archaeologists {{Russia-scientist-stub