“Crouched Inhumations Don’t Give Me Peace”: Bronze Age of the Northern Black Sea Region in A. V. Dobrovolsky’s Studies (based on correspondence with A. M. Tallgren and V. A. Gorodtsov)

The authors publish four letters by A. V. Dobrovolsky to the Finnish archaeologist A. M. Tallgren, written in the spring of 1926, and two letters to V. A. Gorodtsov, written in 1916 and 1926. In those years, the young scientist was only looking for his way in archaeology, while the receivers of this letters already had great authority in Europe. The letters to Tallgren are related to the preparation of his monograph “La Pontide préscythique après l’introduction des métaux”. At that time, Dobrovolsky worked at the Kherson Museum of Antiquities and, on behalf of V. I. Goshkevych, sent the list of hoards of bronze objects and stone molds, as well as several photographs. He also shares his observations and thoughts on the periodization and chronology of settlements and burials of the Bronze Age on the steppe Right Bank of the Dnieper. The article analyzes the communications of the Kherson Museum with European researchers and institutions. Dobrovolsky’s further life path is traced, his participation in the Rescue Expedition due to construction of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Plant (1927—1932) and his scientific activity at the Institute of Archeology (1944—1956) are covered. The researcher studied sites spanning across a wide chronological range, paying special attention to the Neolithic and Late Bronze Age in Ukraine. His field research was meticulous, and the results of fifty years of excavations led to the identification of several archaeological cultures.