International events: International Northern Archaeological Congress opens in Khanty-Mansiysk

The International Northern Archaeological Congress opened on November 8 2010 in Khanty-Mansiysk. The initiative of holding the congress, according to the Governor of Yugra press-service, “is defined by the necessity to comprehend series of scientific discoveries made in the north of Eurasia and America, which introduce considerable corrections into settled ideas on the role of northern cultures in the context of the world history”.

The congress in Khanty-Mansiysk brought together 207 participants – representatives of leading Russian and foreign research centers, specialists in the fields of archaeology, ethnography, history, physical anthropology, paleoecology, cultural heritage protection. Among them are academicians and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, PhDs, scientists from 8 countries of Asia, Europe and America.

The International Northern Archaeological Congress is being held under the aegis of UNESCO. The first such congress took place in 2002 in Khanty-Mansiysk. It was organized by the Khanty-Mansiysk District Administration, the History and Archaeology Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ural branch, the Ural State University.