Description of the attraction
The Archive Museum of the History of the Study and Development of the European North of Russia of the Center for Research in the Humanities of the KSC RAS was founded in mid-1974, and soon after its opening it was included in the existing nomenclature of all museums of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Numerous employees of the KFAN of the USSR, as well as members of the Russian Geographical Society, took an active part in the creation of the museum-archive. The idea of creating this kind of museum was visited by Boris Ivanovich Koshechnik, who was a candidate of sciences and chairman of the Northern branch of the Russian Geographical Society. Koshechkin also took over organizational tasks. Among other things, the founder of the museum-archive was the author of some especially popular books about the historical development of the Kola North.
The museum has a fairly large number of permanent exhibitions, one of which is the "History of Archaeological Research" exhibition. The exposition opens with the ancient period, during which the settlement of the Kola North took place, namely the Neolithic and Late Neolithic and early metal eras. The exhibition is based on documents of archaeological discoveries carried out during the 70-90s of the 20th century.
It is known that at the moment archaeologists were able to discover about five hundred monuments that date back to the Stone Age. The largest part of the collection was presented to the museum as a result of joint expeditionary work of geologists and archaeologists. Also, on the territory of the Murmansk region, several unique monuments were discovered on which there are rock paintings.
Another museum exposition is called Ethnographic Research. Sami Traditions and Culture”. This exhibition is based on materials obtained as a result of ethnographic research in 1920-1930, as well as on the expeditionary and research work of the museum. Here you can see authentic objects of the Saami people of the 19th century, as well as rare photographs. On the museum stands there is a colossal number of manuscripts, documents that tell how the study of the everyday culture of the Sami was carried out, as well as how their unique folklore was formed. In the museum funds there is a unique signal copy of the First volume of the Geographical Dictionary for 1938 and the Second volume, which has survived in only one copy, the circulation of which was destroyed before the start of the Great Patriotic War. An important exhibit was the book "Lapponia" by the author Shefferus I., published in 1674, which is a large cumulative work about the life of the Sami.
The exposition "Kola Pomorie" presents the history of the settlement of the Kola area by Novgorodians. There are collections of maps, medieval objects, household items, 19th century engravings and rare books. Most of this collection was collected during the 1970s. The exposition introduces various objects: forged nails, Russian and Scandinavian axes, unique inkpots and walrus bone combs.
The exhibition "History of Research in the Kola North of the 18th-19th Centuries" tells about scientific expeditions carried out in the European North, initiated by Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov. The maps presented show the routes of the very first studies carried out in this area. The exposition contains engravings that were made by an artist from the city of St. Petersburg, K. M. Ber; These engravings were made during the expeditionary research. There are also personal belongings of A. F. Midderdorf, including an egg-shaped copper inkwell.
In addition to the above, the museum has an exposition dedicated to high-latitude research, which presents fragments of a ceramic furnace, scientific works and documents of American researchers, as well as the Northern Scientific Expedition, which included about 50 different works of graphics, painting and artworks. The exhibition "History of the Scientific Center of the Academy of Sciences of Russia" tells about the history of existence, as well as the research work of the Kola Science Center.
