In June 2021, “Treasures among Minusinsk Museum Bronzes”, jointly compiled by the School of Archaeology of Jilin Universityin Chinaand Minusinsk Museum in Russia, was officially published by Cultural Relics Publishing House.
As one of the oldest museums in Siberia,Minusinsk Museum was founded in 1877,withfull name "Minusinsk Regional Chorography Museum", after the founder N.M. Maleganov named it. The museum enjoys a high international reputation for its rich collection of cultural relics, especially the numerous bronzes of the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age, and has become ashrinefor archaeological research in the Eurasian steppe.
The archaeology of Eurasian steppe isone ofthestrongpointof the archaeology discipline of Jilin University. There are a number of teachers engaged in relevant research,whohas established extensive contacts with Russian archaeological institutionslong time ago. In 2018, the School of Archaeology of Jilin University signed an official cooperation agreement with Minusinsk Museum, reaching consensus on joint scientific research and personnel exchange. At the end of 2018, the foreign archaeology team from the School of Archaeology of Jilin University went to Minusinsk Museum in Russia to carry out the cooperative collation and research of the bronze ware collection. The team completed the shooting andeditingof more than 600 pieces of bronze wares in total, and after two and a half years of graphic editing work, this "Treasures among Minusinsk Museum Bronzes" finally came out.
This book is the first comprehensive and systematic catalogue of Minusinsk bronzes, which basically represents the whole picture of Minusinsk basin bronzes. A total of 427 bronze objects (sets) were selected and displayed in six sections of the Minusinsk Museum in the order of Avanasevo, Okunev, Andronovo, Karasuk, Tagar and post-Tagar culture. Not only the pictures are exquisite, the printing is high-quality, but also the text introduction of the relevant information of the objects, including the name, texture,method, size, weight, discovery point, entry time and serial number, which lays a foundation for the in-depth research of scholars. At the same time, it is compiled in Chinese, Russian and English, which provides extremely important materials for scholars all over the world to study the Minusinsk Bronze Culture. Therefore, this book is an achievement of international academic significance.
In the process of compiling this book, China and Russia have conducted in-depth communication and cooperation, thus forging a deep friendship. Taking this cooperation as an opportunity, the School of Archaeology of Jilin University and Minusinsk Museum will carry out all-round cooperative research in the fields of archaeology, museology, anthropology and other related fields in the future, opening a new chapter in the international cooperative research on Eurasian steppe archaeology.
