The Development of Archeological Explorations in the Penza Region
The article considers the development of archeological explorations in the Penza region. The beginning of archeological explorations refers to 1768, when academician P. S. Pallas described Yulovskoye burial ground. At the end of the XVIII-th - beginning of the XIX-th centuries expeditions under A. A. Spitsyn, V. M. Terekhin, P. G. Tarasov and S. A. Shcheglov made excavations on burial grounds of the Penza province. In 1919 N. I. Sprygina headed the department of archeology created in the Penza museum of local lore; it was making the map of archeological monuments of the Penza region and excavations of Mordvinian burial grounds and sites of settlement. In the 1920-s archeological monuments of the Penza province attracted explorers from other cities B. S. Zhukov, O. A. Krivtsova-Grakova, P. S. Rykov, A. A. Krotkov. In the 1930-s after the destruction of the study of local lore there were practically no archeological explorations in the Penza region except some excavations made by A. E. Alikhova. In 1952-1977 the member of the Penza museum of local lore M. R. Polesskikh was engaged in archeological explorations in the Penza region; he turned from excavations of burial grounds to explorations of Ekaterinovskoye, Zolotaryovskoye and Akhunskoye sites of ancient settlement. The most wide-ranging explorations of settlements of the Bronze age were organized by M. R. Polesskikh, B. G. Tikhonov and A. D. Pryakhin during Surskaya archeological expedition in 1971-1973 near villages Ust-Uza and Alferyevka, in Barkovka district. Since the 1980-s archeological activity in the Penza region has been realized by G. N. Be-lorybkin, A. V. Rastoropov and V. V. Stavitskiy.