Finnish-Soviet/Russian Scientific Cooperation in Archaeology: Results of the Journey 1969–2014 Anatoliy N. Kirpichnikov, Pirjo Uino & Evgeniy N. Nosov Anatoliy N. Kirpichnikov, Department of Slavic and Finnic Archaeology, Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dvortsovaya nab. 18, RU-191186 St Petersburg, Russia: [email protected] Pirjo Uino, National Board of Antiquities, P. O. Box 913, FI-00101 Helsinki, Finland: [email protected], [email protected] Evgeniy N. Nosov , Department of Slavic and Finnic Archaeology, Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dvortsovaya nab. 18, RU-191186 St Petersburg, Russia: [email protected] Abstract After World War II, a Committee for Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology between the USSR and Finland was founded in 1955, based on an agreement between the two countries. The committee included a working group for archaeology, founded in 1969, which provided an operational environment for scholarly cooperation: symposia, projects, exchange of researchers, and so on. In Finland, the working group operated within the frame of the Committee for Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology of the Foreign Ministry, while in the USSR it operated under the Academy of Sciences. The activities were planned in the sphere of the history of the Finno-Ugrian peoples and their relations with the Slavs, as well as investigations into the ethnogenesis of Slavs, Finno-Ugrians, and Balts in the 1st millennium AD. Also the subject of Russian-Finnish relations in the 8th–14th centuries was involved. The breakdown of the USSR in 1991 terminated the strictly institutional model of cooperation. The Committee for Cooperation in the Fields of Science and Technology between the USSR and Finland, as well as the working groups, were dissolved in 1992. A new organisation, the Commission for Scientific and Technical Cooperation between Finland and Russia, was established. The new situation provided opportunities for a new kind of activity based on a broader multi-disciplinary concept, while, on the other hand, the financing of symposia and other activities met with difficulties because there were no longer any established channels for financing. However, the Academy of Finland and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) took care of the exchange of researchers between our two countries for some time and also provided funds for one symposium held in Helsinki. After 2004, there was a 10-year break in the tradition, as the Finnish party could not arrange a symposium because of various difficulties. Finally, in 2014, a 14th symposium was arranged in Helsinki. This article summarises the activities connected to the archaeological cooperation referred to above. NEW SITES, NEW METHODS THE FINNISH ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, ISKOS 21, 2016 AnatoliY N. KIRPICHNIKOV, PIRJO UINO & EVGENIY N. NOSOV 1 Introduction Dr Anatoliy N. Kirpichnikov) and Professor Carl Fredrik Meinander (1969–1981) / Dr After World War II, interaction between Torsten Edgren (1981–1992), Department Soviet/Russian and Finnish archaeologists Director at the National Board of Antiquities, restarted already in 1955, when the Committee acted as co-chairmen for the working group. for Cooperation in the Fields of Science and According to B. A. Rybakov’s and C. F. Technology (Fi. Tieteellis-teknillinen yhteis- Meinander’s proposition and with the participa- toimintakomitea, called the TT Committee) tion of N. N. Gurina, then heading the Leningrad between Finland and the Soviet Union was Branch of the Institute of Archaeology (LOIA) founded, based on an agreement between the AS USSR, the first Soviet-Finnish archaeo- two countries. In the latter part of the 1950s logical symposium took place in Leningrad in and in the 1960s, the first mutual visits of scho- November 1976 on the subject of Finno-Ugrian lars were arranged in an atmosphere of explo- and Slavic tribes in eastern Europe and Finland ring budding possibilities for interaction.1 This during the medieval period. Fifteen scholars article gives a summary of activities connected from Helsinki, Turku, Leningrad, and Moscow to the archaeological cooperation starting from read their papers. 1969 based on the publications produced as a The main responsibility for these activities result of the cooperation, listed at the end of was laid on the Sector (now Department) of the article, and relevant archival sources kept Slavic and Finnish archaeology at LOIA AS at the National Board of Antiquities and the USSR instituted in 1974. The activities of the Russian Academy of Sciences, not listed here. Sector were planned in the sphere of the his- In 2014, forty-five years had passed since tory of the Finno-Ugrian peoples and their re- the time when, in 1969, a joint working group lations with the Slavs, as well as investigations was organised for Soviet-Finnish coopera- into the ethnogenesis of Slavs, Finno-Ugrians, tion in archaeology as a result of an agree- and Balts in the 1st millennium AD. Also the ment between the Archaeological Institute of subject of Slavic/Russian-Finnic relations in the Soviet Academy of Sciences and the TT the 8th–14th centuries was involved. Committee operating within the frame of the Foreign Ministry of Finland. This initiative 2 Working group was based upon a promising program of coop- eration in the sphere of natural sciences and the The international meeting of 1976 proved to be humanities approved in the USSR and Finland. successful. It started cooperation between sci- In Finland, cooperative activities were carried entists in the two neighbouring countries. At out by a working group for archaeology ap- the same time, a working group was organised pointed by the TT Committee and representing for the planning of joint studies. The group for the National Board of Antiquities (until 1972 archaeology provided an operational environ- the Archaeological Commission) in addition ment for scholarly interaction up to the end of to the Archaeological Departments of the the Soviet Union. Also connections with the Universities of Helsinki and Turku. The sec- archaeologists of the Estonian, Latvian, and retariat of the TT Committee and the scientific Lithuanian Soviet Republics were handled secretary appointed by the Committee, MA through this system. This was a very important Paula Purhonen, then Curator, later Head of point for Finnish archaeology, because direct Unit at the National Board of Antiquities, were communication over the Gulf of Finland had responsible for the practical arrangements. In not been possible since the war. the USSR, the corresponding working group No other sphere of knowledge in the hu- operated within the frame of the Archaeological mani ties demands as intensive a communica- Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. tion between the scientists of our two countries Academician Boris A. Rybakov (deputised by as archaeology. We need an equal dialogue as 10 FINNISH-SOVIET/RUSSIAN SCIENTIFIC Cooperation IN ARCHAEOLOGy: Results OF THE JOURNEy 1969–2014 Figure 1a. A joint meeting of the working groups for archaeology in Leningrad in 1981. From left to right: Unto Salo, Aarni Erä-Esko, C. F. Meinander, N. V. Khvoshchin skaya (by the window), B. A. Rybakov, Ella Grönholm, A. N. Kirpichnikov, and Torsten Edgren. In the front, turned away from the camera, Paula Purhonen. Figure 1b. Anatoliy N. Kirpi chni kov and Boris A. Rybakov in Leningrad in 1981. 11 AnatoliY N. KIRPICHNIKOV, PIRJO UINO & EVGENIY N. NOSOV well as a mutual understanding. Naturally, there In Finnish science, a solid tradition of ar- are certain differences in the approach to the chaeological knowledge has been establish- methodology of historical studies in our coun- ed. Such famous scholars as Aarne Michaël tries. However, of most importance is not that Tallgren, Johan Reinhold Aspelin, Аlfred which separates our positions but that which Hackman, Julius Ailio, Aarne Ayräpää (A. unites us and thus yields positive results. The Europaeus), and Carl Axel Nordman were cooperation between Soviet and Finnish archae- familiar with materials from eastern Europe, ologists was dictated by the inherent needs of the Baltic region, and Karelia and employed the development of historical science and cor- them in their studies. They considered Russian responded entirely to the neighbourly relation- antiquities beginning with the Stone Age. The ship then established between the USSR and first Finnish archaeologists visited the far east- Finland. C. F. Meinander justly noted during ern region in the upper reaches of the Yenisei the first symposium in Leningrad that no prob- in search of the historical roots of the Finns. lem in Finnish archaeology could be solved As Torsten Edgren justly noted in his open- without studying materials and conclusions of ing address at the fifth symposium in 1986, Soviet archaeologists. The settlement history of The Trends and Forms of the Finnish-Soviet the Finnish people and the evolution of Finnish Cooperation in the Sphere of Archaeology, culture at all times was closely tied with the ‘movement of man in the prehistoric pe- history of the neighbouring lands – the White riod was not limited by any state borders. It Sea, Onega, and Ladoga regions, as well as was possible to make long-distance journeys the entire eastern Baltic coast. In some of the through vast territories.’ This approach was studies we consider the middle reaches of the held by the best representatives of Finnish sci- Volga and in other ones the Arctic regions. In ence. The contacts that they had established turn, Soviet/Russian researchers need equally with archaeologists, museums, and various much knowledge about Finno-Ugric finds and organisations in Russia were of extreme im- comparison of their conclusions with those of portance for the development of archaeology Finnish scholars. in Finland. Figure 2. A joint meeting of the working groups for archaeology in Leningrad in 1984. From left to right: Torsten Edgren, Paula Purhonen, Aleksandr I.