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ARCHAEOLOGY
Archaeological department was opened on the base
of the Khabarovsk Regional Lore Museum in 1998. It is placed at
the separate building which before October revolution was the property
of a merchant V.P. Lubben, the owner of a brewery. Archaeological
reserves of the museum include more than 35000 items. 1200 of them
are of great scientific value and they are available to visitors
in the archaeological department.
Collections of A.P. Okladnikov and V.K. Arsenyev
and also materials of the museum archaeologists A.V. Deryugin, Yu.M.
Vasilyev and others are the basis of archaeological reserves. The
scientific conception of the department was worked out by I.Ya.
Shevkomud the candidate of historical sciences. A.A. Suchkov the
member of the Russian Association of artists represented his architectural-artistic
project of exposition. The scientific worker archaeologist A.V.
Malyavin took an active part in the reconstruction of typological
complexes.
There are five thematic sections in the exposition
which cover the period from the origin of human beings to the Mongolian
invasion.
Cultures of the Palaeolithic period or the so 
called Old Stone Age (30000-13000 years B.C.) are shown in the first
section. Visitors can find themselves in the Stone Age looking at the
diorama where the temporary site of ancient hunters and some stone implements
are reconstructed.
The remnants of the most ancient pottery which was
made in the L ow
Amur 13000 years ago arose the great interest. Impressive brightly ornamented
ceramics of the Middle and Late Neolithic Age astonish our imagination.
There are also fragments of big vessels painted with raddle and also
bas-relief depictures of human faces and animals.
The unique exhibits of the Neolithic art are represented
in t he
exposition. Among them there are statuettes-figures of women-well known
as "Amur Venus".
Illustrations, pictures and exhibits of the third section
inform on the monumental memorials of the ancient art in Priamurye -
cliff-pictures and petroglyphs. The first of them appeared 8000-10000
years ago. Visitors' attention is attracted by the copies of the basaltic
blocks made in the settlement Sikachi-Alyan. There are depictures of
human faces on the stones cut out by hands of ancient people.
In the epoch of th e
ancient metal people began to use iron instead of stone. Metal became
one of the main materials for making tools and armour. That stimulated
the great industrial development as well as rapid spreading of permanent
settlements. A fragment of an ancient dwelling is reconstructed in the
diorama. In its interior one can see hunting and fishing tackle. There
are spear-heads, bones of animals, net sinkers, fish-forks there, near
the fire-place there are burnt millet grains. It is the best proof of
the fact that economy of ancient people had many branches with predomination
of agriculture and cattle-breeding.
The developed culture of the Iron Age gave good grounds
for establishing of the first states in the Far East - Bokhai, Tzsin
(the Gold Empire of chzhurchzhenies) and others dated from the V-XIII
centuries A.D. The history of their
establishing was closely connected with conflicts and wars. The patterns
of the Middle Age armament are also exposed here. Among them there are
armour (coats of mail), arrows and arrow-heads, spears, harness of war
horses. Visitors' attention is usually drawn by men belts composed of
bronze, iron, silver ore gold plates. The remains of temples-facing
bricks, tiles with relief ornament found by archaeologists are a real
decoration of the Middle Age section.
Possibly, the culture of Amur chzhurchzhenies was the basis for
cultures of forefathers of the modern Amur peoples Udes, Ulchies,
Nanais, Nivkhs and others.
Traveling from one section to the other visitors
can have a look upon many milleniums and penetrate into the atmosphere
of ancient epochs.
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