Electronic resources: The first Russian electronic map of archaeological sites

Scientists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IA RAS) developed and launched Russia's first electronic archaeological map, which includes data on more than 15 thousand objects.

The work on the electronic map began in 2014 under the supervision of the Director of IA RAS Nikolai Makarov. Scientists have developed a standard description of the archaeological site, which among other things includes the name, type, chronological information. With the support of the Russian Science Foundation the program cover for the map was developed by the Russian Science Foundation - an automated information processing system.

"This map itself - a unique tool that for the first time allowed us to see Russia as a unified field of archaeological work, let see white spots on it", - said N. Makarov.

It turned out that the archeological monuments on the territory of Russia are very unevenly distributed. Scientists previously had known that the density of archaeological sites is higher in the south and in the European part of Russia. However, the maps show the harshness of contrasts that characterizes almost all chronological sections.

Almost 73% of the Russian archeological sites affected researches of 2009-2012, which is more than 11 thousand. Facilities are located west of the Urals. Makarov is sure that this distribution reflects the research activity and general patterns in the distribution of the country's population. Scientists plan to complement the map. Thus, in the archives of the Institute has about 133 thousand monuments, studied since 1945.