Vol 3, No 2 (2021)

The article is based on the still rare and scattered data on situation of the Russian prisoners in the Prussian captivity during Seven years’ war of 1756-1763. On the basis of the published memoirs and single archival documents the author draws a conclusion on difference in keeping of captured officers and the lower ranks. The situation of the soldiers in captivity was very difficult; they were pressured to go into the Prussian service, they felt the need for clothing and warm rooms, some of the prisoners was forcibly sent to the Prussian army and, contrary to international agreements, remained there even after the end of the war.

The authors show the complexity of the work of the deputies of the Second State Duma (February-June 1907) on the acute issues of combating hunger and unemployment. In the conditions of the unfinished term of the Duma, since it was dissolved, the deputies tried to expand the work of the commissions for the social protection of the disadvantaged strata of the population. The authors note that the priority of the legislative branch in the draft work of the commissions was more clearly manifested by the socialist factions than by the liberal ones. Representatives of the left-wing factions tried to involve the city Dumas and public organizations in work on important issues, but the center-right and the government posed all sorts of obstacles to them. However, even in such difficult conditions, the deputies used every opportunity to strengthen the positions of the people’s representation on the way to deepening democratic reforms in the country.

The article is devoted to studying the history of the Kuibyshev confectionery factory through the prism of the fund collections of the Samara regional museum of history and local lore named after P.V. Alabin. Photographs, diaries of work crews and packaging products of the enterprise were used as historical sources. This source series was collected in the funds of the Kuibyshev Museum of Local History thanks to the collective activities of employees in 1966.

The article is devoted to the experience of reading a course on the history of money circulation, the teaching practice of which has been tested in a number of higher educational institutions of the Sverdlovsk region. It contains an attempt to analyze the content of this course and its impact on the studying of economic history, numismatics, bonistics, and even collecting by students. The author considers the teaching of such a course necessary for students of a number of specialties for educational purposes. He emphasizes the general culturological effect for the audience, the formation of spiritual and moral values, and even the influence on the preservation of artifacts for the future.

The beginning of the 1950s was a period of active exploration of the Northern Sea Route, as well a time of aggravation of relations between world powers, which led to the development and strengthening of new economic and political positions of the Soviet Union. The authors of the article describe the prerequisites and the development of icebreaking shipbuilding in the USSR in the face of significant demand for new ships with a principled position to leave the accumulated experience inside the country. Particular attention is paid to an in-depth analysis of the established situation and the practice of developing a new icebreaking vessel at that time by outstanding Leningrad scientists from the Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route under the Council of Ministers of the USSR: A.I. Brandaus, V.F. Burkhanov, V.I. Neganov, N.A. Eremeev, A.S. Kolesnichenko, M.Y. Rogov and others. The paper also reflects the great interest of the central organizations of shipbuilding and management of the sea and river fleet in the rapid advancement of this project in the USSR.

The paper presents the results of the Algay site study undertaken in 2020 in the steppe Volga region (Aleksandorovo-Gaisky district of the Saratov region) on the right bank of the Bolshoy Uzen river. During the excavations archaeologists discovered three cultural layers, separated from each other by sterile layers. The upper layer contains finds belonged to the Khvalynskaya Eneolithic culture, the middle layer contains finds from the Caspian one, and the lower layer - from the Orlovskaya culture. The ceramics are made of silty clay with an admixture of mollusk shells. The stone tools differ in raw materials: the Khvalynskaya and Caspian artifacts are made mainly of quartzite, and the Orlovskaya ones are made of flint. The range of objects is dominated by various types of scrapers, knives and cutting points. The flat-bottomed vessels of the Orlovskaya culture are ornamented using the technique of a receding lines with oval and triangular pricks. Patterns are represented by horizontal rows and zigzags. Aurochs, tarpan, saiga and onager were identified among the bones of animals. Bones of a domestic dog were found in the Orlovskaya culture layer, and bones of sheep and goats in the Caspian layer. The bone tools and a shell pendant were also found. The radiocarbon dates indicate the existence of the Caspian layer in the V millennium BC, and the Orlovskaya layer in the VII -VI millennium BC.

The paper contains an analysis of the ceramic collection of the bronze age sanctuary Malaya Sopka. The sanctuary is located in the Oktyabrsky district of the Rostov region and was investigated in 2017. A little more than 10,000 square meters of the cultural layer of the сentral part of the monument were studied, which is about two-thirds of the total area. On the entire territory of the excavation, there were no dwellings, buildings, household pits, and hearths. However, 10 religious complexes were studied on the site, in the form of a system of ditches of various configurations (ring, rectangular, double ring), 12 objects (stone slabs and layouts, ruins of vessels), which gave reason to call Malaya Sopka a place of worship or a sanctuary. The weakly saturated cultural layer contained tools and products made of stone, bone and bronze. The main part of the finds is represented by ruins and fragments of bronze age ceramics and fragments of cattle bones. The ceramic complex of the site was formed at the turn of the middle and late Bronze age at the base of two different cultural traditions: the local Babino (multi-ribbed) and the newcomer Don-Volga Abashevo culture. The syncretic ceramic complex marks the stage of formation of the early Srubnaya (Timber-grave) culture and supplements the data on the cultural genesis of the middle-late Bronze age with the materials of the cult site.