Archaeological exposition: Multum in Parvo

Abstract

Based on the example of conceptual archaeological expositions "Songs of the ancestors", "Archaeology of Western Siberia in the light of the latest discoveries", "Archaeological Museum of the Ural University", "Lisakov Museum of History and Culture of the Upper Tobol region", "National Historical, Cultural and Natural Reserve Museum "Ulytau"" the article reveals exceptional interpretative resources of artifacts of preliterate periods in the history of the population of the Urals, Western Siberia and Kazakhstan. It raises topical issues of the presentation of archaeological heritage in terms of ethnicity of the past and present. Assessing their own diverse experience, the authors pay attention to the exceptional possibilities of the exposition statement and sometimes independent, paradoxical role of the artifact = sign, on the basis of which different texts of the past and present are created in different situations. With the collapse of communist ideology and the growing processes of globalization, the search for regional identity is becoming more acute. The universal answer is the appeal to regional mythology, embodied in the signs and symbols of the past, which are consonant with modern methods of figurative expression and demonstrate the value of the main social and philosophical discoveries of man. Knowledge, including preliterate history in its various manifestations, creates such an important atmosphere of involvement in the history of one's own land, people, neighbors, anxious about the same search for happiness, peace, security of their loved ones and an interesting life. Museums are a unique resource of patriotic education, which provides opportunities for cognition and adoption of historical experience. © 2019 Institute of History and Archeology of the Ural Branch of RAS. All rights reserved.