The Khorezmian Expedition: Imperial Archaeology and Faustian Bargains in Soviet Central Asia

• Published in: Public archaeology Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 5 - 26
• Main Author: Arzhantseva, Irina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 01.02.2015
• Subjects: Central Asia; Chorasmia; Khorezm; Sergej P. Tolstov; Soviet archaeology
• ISSN: 1465-5187; 1753-5530
• DOI: 10.1179/1465518715Z.00000000081

The article discusses the history of the Khorezmian Archaeological-Ethnographic Expedition from its inception (1937) to its end (1997) after the dissolution of the USSR. Three stages are distinguished: pre-war beginnings (1937 to 1941); post-war heyday (1945 to 1976), the most prolific and successful stage of work; and final decline (1976 to 1997) during which work was eventually wound down in the wake of the collapse of the USSR. The charismatic director of the Expedition, Sergej P. Tolstov, is shown to have been an innovative archaeologist and outstanding organizer, but also a skilled self-propagandist and (up to a point) a collaborator with the Soviet authorities on ideological issues and 'imperial' expansion. On the other hand, he offered Jewish colleagues a refuge in his own little 'empire' during Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign. Through the many students trained on the Khorezmian Expedition, Tolstov and his senior assistant directors had an immense impact on the current generation of Russian archaeologists.