Pavel Dolukhanov
Pavel Dolukhanov (January 1, 1937, Leningrad, USSR – December 6, 2009, Newcastle, UK) was a doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor, Emeritus Professor (2002), Russian and British paleogeographer and archaeologist at the Institute of History of Material Culture (IHMC), RAS (1959–1989) and the University of Newcastle, United Kingdom (1990–2009), a specialist in archaeology and paleoenvironment of Northern Eurasia. He taught and made research at the Leningrad State University, the University of Newcastle (UK), the Institute of Paleontology in Paris and the International Research Center (Kyoto, Japan). Biography. Pavel Dolukhanov was born January 1, 1937 in Leningrad. His father was a  professor at the Electrical Engineering Institute. In 1959 he graduated from the Geography Department of Leningrad State University with a degree in Geography and Geomorphology and joined the Laboratory of Archaeological Technology at the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (now IHMC RAS) under the supervision of Prof Sergei Rudenko. Starting as a Senior Laboratory Assistant, in 1988 Dolukhanov was appointed Head of the Laboratory. In 1965 Dolukhanov completed his Master’s thesis "Late and Postglacial History of the Baltic Sea and the Archaeological Cultures in its Basin," and in 1985  his doctoral thesis "Development of Environment and Economy of the Primitive Population of Eastern Europe and Asia Minor in the late Pleistocene-Holocene period". Research. His main areas of research focused on paleoecology and archaeology, in particular on the adaptation of archaeological cultures to environmental changes. Dolukhanov was one of the first in the Soviet Union to realize the enormous possibilities afforded by radiocarbon dating in a variety of historical studies. Since 1960s Dolukhanov began to analyze the problem of the history and archaeological cultures of the Baltic region. He participated in expeditions in the Pskov and Smolensk regions, in  the excavation and exploration in the Kaliningrad region, and Paleolithic expeditions on the territory of Moldova and Russia. Dolukhanov led a paleogeographical group, which conducted the drilling of lakes and marshes in the North-West Russia, reconstructing paleoclimatic changes and exploring the history of the lakes and the Baltic Sea. Dolukhanov traveled almost throughout the entire Soviet Union and participated in field works in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Siberia, in central Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. Dolukhanov led international projects funded by INTAS, UNESCO, and the European Union, which involved researchers attached to IHMC RAS, the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg University, the  Institute of Limnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the University of Newcastle, and other research centers. Under his leadership, archeological teams investigated the problem of the emergence of agriculture on the territory of the Russian Plain, waterways and migration of the ancient population of the North-West Russia and the Black Sea and the Mediterranean corridor, as well as the adaptation of crops to changing sea levels. His academic works are distinguished by a combination of organic methods of geographical sciences, ecology and archaeology, and the creative use of statistical and mathematical methods in archaeology. He was the author  and co-author of monographs and articles published by Russian and international publishing houses and journals. Trivia. In addition to his scientific work, Pavel Dolukhanov wrote fiction that was published in magazines in Russia and Finland. In 2003, a collection of his stories, "Russian Season" and posthumously in 2010 - the novel "Leningrad-Tbilisi" (ed. Limbus Press., 2009) under the pseudonym Pavel Dolokhov. Articles. More than 200, including: