The Siberian Archeological Field School (SFAS) is an innovative educational and methodological center that was launched in 2006 by the NSU Humanities Archeology Section at the Department of Archeology and Ethnography. Students and teachers at the NSU Humanities Department of Archeology and Ethnography Department, the NSU “New Archeology” Scientific Educational Center, and the L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (GENU) Department of Archeology and Ethnology in Kazakhstan organized a new School. It takes place fr om June 20 to July 2 in the Abayevsky District in the East Kazakhstan region near the village of Toktamys batyr. The primary focus is “The Antiquities of the Great Steppe in the Millennial Flow: Innovations in the Methodology of Archaeological and Ethnographic Research”. Of the approximately 100 people involved in the project, 20 are students from Russia. In addition, students from universities in Kazakhstan, undergraduates, and graduate students from NSU, Northern Federal University, and Irkutsk State University will take part in the school as well as leading Archeology, Anthropology, and Ethnography researchers from the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS and NSU and teachers from GENU.
Lyudmila Lbova, Curator SFAS 2019, Doctor of History and Professor at NSU Department of Archeology and Ethnography talked about the School,
Together with the Institute of Archeology and Ethnology SB RAS and other Russian universities, we have conducted field schools in Khakassia, Altai, Baikal, and Novosibirsk Ob. Other SFAS groups went to Germany, France, Italy, and China for more in-depth training in archeology on more focused topics. Students, graduate students, young specialists, and leading scientists from Russia and a number of foreign countries are involved in our projects. As a result of this School, 18 young specialists defended their PhD thesis in a short period of time and continue to be engaged in science and more than 30 educational and methodological articles have been published.
Lbova stressed SFAS 2019 is also important because of its role in the development of scientific and educational projects between NSU and GENU, which has brought new energy to the partnership.
The SFAS 2019 program will include workshops on the fundamentals of Tacheometry surveying, Dendrochronology, and Paleoanthropology. Special attention will be given to new methods in archeology, ethnography, and ethnology: experimental research, the creation of three-dimensional models of historical and cultural heritage objects, digital methods for attaching archaeological and ethnographic materials. Field trips are also an important part of the program as project participants become familiar with the culture and traditions of modern Kazakhstan. At the end of the program there will be a scientific and practical mini-conference wh ere participants will present the results of their research projects.
