ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECONNAISSANCE AND SURVEYS. MODERNITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF M. P. KUCHERA
Authors: Tomashevskyi А. P. 
Published: December 2023

The paper presents a brief analysis of the territorial, quantitative, and qualitative scope of M. P. Kuchera’s explorations; organizational principles, methodological principles, and practical techniques for ensuring the functioning and livelihood of his archaeological exploration expedition are defined. The peculiarities of the methodology, research methods and style of the researcher’s scientific investigations are characterized.

Due to visiting and detailed examination in different years of numerous Old Rus sites in different lands of Rus-Ukraine the scientist could to conceptualize and formulate a probable typology of Old Rus settlements and fortifications as well as to build a well-founded dating scheme of Old Rus kitchen pottery. The conscious understanding of necessity of the development of source base and research interest required the most comprehensive coverage of the entire scope research object. At least twice M. P. Kuchera set such tasks and successfully fulfilled them: he created a comprehensive, consolidated and complete study of the Old Rus settlements of Ukraine and the Zmievy Walls.

A brief description of the author’s personal exploration experience within the scope of the student scientific Early Slavic archaeological expedition and as part of the expedition of M. P. Kuchera is presented.

The combination and understanding of previous experience, strategies and methods allowed the author to synthesize, develop and implement the program of complex multi-year and multi-seasonal archaeological explorations of the historical Ovruch Volost. The concentrated description of the main principles and features of exploration in the Ovruch project, their key methods and results is provided. Multiple trips, observation in dynamics, monitoring of the state of preservation are some of the main components of the field research strategy of the expeditions of the Ovruch project. The main result was a more than tenfold increase in the number of archaeological sites known in this area before the start of work. Such drastic qualitative and qualitative changes prompted the development of a new special scientific and practical field of archaeological knowledge — the study and assessment of the degree of archaeological research (SAD). The methods of SAD ensure the determination of the archaeological potential of the territory, the creation of its detailed regional models, special techniques and methods of studying and assessing the level of accounting and protection of the historical and archaeological heritage objects of the certain region, the identification and assessment of risks and threats to them.

Finding the critical modern state of study, recording and preservation of domestic archaeological sites makes it obvious the need to develop and implement urgent and large-scale tasks in this field, first of all, to find out at least approximate parameters of the real archaeological potential of the relevant territories of the state. This task requires specially designed, planned and implemented broad and detailed archaeological exploration.

In the paper the author once again emphasizes the vital need for the development and implementation of the National Program of Archaeological Survey of Ukraine and the corresponding changes in the strategy and tactics of scientific research of the Instituteof Archaeology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.