Reconstruction of the Appearance of Leningrad Defenders

E. V. Veselovskaya; Yu. V. Rashkovskaya; I. I. Metelkina; E. A. Krykov; E. A. Volkova

List of issues > «Geoarchaeology, Ethnology, and Anthropology Series». 2023. Vol 46

Reconstruction of the Appearance of Leningrad Defenders

Full text (russian)

Author(s)

E. V. Veselovskaya, Yu. V. Rashkovskaya, I. I. Metelkina, E. A. Krykov, E. A. Volkova

Abstract

Actualization of historical memory is the important task facing Russian science today. In recent decades, more and more often we are faced with attempts to distort real events. Often the object of such falsification is the Great Patriotic War. The appeal to this topic by scientists, anthropologists, contributes to the revival of interest in the events of this war and the restoration of historical truth. The search movement of Russia is carrying out a great mission to return the names of missing soldiers who laid down their lives for victory. In the mid-1980s, public organizations launched an active search and reburial of soldiers who died on various fronts of the Great Patriotic War. To date, thanks to the expeditions of search teams, the remains of more than 600 thousand soldiers have been found and buried, more than 35 thousand names have been restored. This article is devoted to the scientific reconstruction of the appearance of six soldiers who died from September 1941 to January 1944 on the Volkhov Front on the territory of the Kirov district of the Leningrad region near the Apraksin village in the area of the Voronovo and Karbusel tracts. The exhumation of the soldiers was carried out within the framework of the interregional search expedition “Voronovo-2021” (under the leadership of A. Yu. Metelkin and I. I. Metelkina), which makes a huge contribution to the task of identifying soldiers who died on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, returning the names of missing war participants. Our efforts to restore the appearance of soldiers also make a modest contribution to the actualization of historical memory. For reconstruction, the method of restoration on the skull of M. M. Gerasimov was used, taking into account modern developments and additions. According to the program “The appearance algorithm”, lifetime characteristics of the head were obtained, clarifying the procedure for reconstructing the appearance. The article presents contour and graphic reconstructions accompanied by a description of individual features of appearance for each individual. Thanks to the completed research, we present six lifetime portraits of soldiers who died defending the Leningrad.

About the Authors

Veselovskaya Elizaveta Valentinovna, Doctor of Sciences (History), Chief Researcher, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS, Center of Physical Anthropology, Laboratory of Anthropological Reconstruction; 32A, Leninsky ave., Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation, Professor, Russian State University for the Humanities, Educational and Scientific Center of Social Anthropology; 6 building, Miusskaya pl., Moscow, 125267, Russian Federation, e-mail: veselovskaya.e.v@yandex.ru

Rashkovskaya Yulia Vadimovna, Master's degree, Trainee researcher, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS; 32A, Leninsky ave., Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation, e-mail: j.pelenitsyna@gmail.com

Metelkina Irina Igorevna, Chairman of the Interregional Public Organization "Vologda Association of Search Engines"; 211 office, 31, Predtechenskaya str., Vologda, 160000, Russian Federation, e-mail: vroovop35@gmail.com

Krykov Egor Andreevich, Master's degree, Russian State University for the Humanities; 6 building, Miusskaya pl., Moscow, 125267, Russian Federation, Trainee researcher, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS; 32A, Leninsky Ave., Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation, e-mail: theeternalglow@mail.ru

Volkova Elizaveta Andreevna, Master's degree, Russian State University for the Humanities; 6 building, Miusskaya pl., Moscow, 125267, Russian Federation, e-mail: volkvkybe@gmail.com

For citation

Veselovskaya E. V., Rashkovskaya Yu. V., Metelkina I. I., Krykov E. A., Volkova E. A. Reconstruction of the Appearance of Leningrad Defenders. Bulletin of the Irkutsk State University. Geoarchaeology, Ethnology, and Anthropology Series. 2023, Vol. 46, pp. 65–83. https://doi.org/10.26516/2227-2380.2023.46.65 (in Russ.)

Keywords

search movement of the Russian Federation, anthropological reconstruction of appearance; fallen soldiers of the Great Patriotic War; craniometry.

UDC

572

DOI

https://doi.org/10.26516/2227-2380.2023.46.65

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