Historical and Bibliographic Study of the Development of Archeology in the Russian Empire

The attention to the experience of predecessors in science is dictated by the need to assess the level of development of today's knowledge. This experience is often undeservedly forgotten. That leads to mistakes and misunderstandings. Archaeology is no exception. It is closely connected with modernity, as it allows us to trace the origins of many current ideas, ideas, traits of the national mentality. The policy of the Russian state in the field of archeology development can be enriched by the experience of the state policy of the Russian Empire, an experience that turns out to be instructive and in many ways applicable now. This is due to the relevance of this work. The study of historiography is constructed in accordance with the division into three conditional blocks. The first historiographical block includes works devoted to the development of archeology in Russia as a science and state policy in this direction. To the second - works on the historiography of archeology of individual periods and regions, to the third - the personalities of the pioneers of the national archaeological science. Since the historiographical part accompanies any archaeological work, the article draws attention to the works of recent years, the distinctive feature of which is the appeal to archival materials, the introduction of new sources into circulation. It is such works that the main attention is paid in this article. The use of archaeologists' archives allows modern researchers to reveal new facets of scientific and pedagogical creativity of the pioneers of Russian archaeology and dispel the established scientific myths associated with their activities. As a result of the research, new directions in historiography are highlighted and a conclusion is made about the need to form a new type of scientist - archaeologist-historiographer who has information on various aspects of the humanities, which corresponds to the interdisciplinary nature of modern knowledge.