Anna Ivanovna Melyukova (russian: Анна Ивановна Мелюкова; 14 December 1921 – 7 March 2004) was a Russian archaeologist and a pioneer in the field of

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

archaeology. At her alma mater,

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, she held the position of professor of archaeology and eventually, became the head of its department of

Scythology The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

Biography

Anna Ivanovna Melyukova was born on 14 December 1921, the daughter of a sculptor and ornamentalist. She received an interest in art through her family. Melyukova entered the Faculty of History at Moscow State University in 1939, from which she was graduated with distinction in 1945. Her dissertation was on the funerary constructions of

royal mounds. She studied under the distinguished scholar,

Boris Grakov Boris Nikolayevich Grakov (russian: Борис Николаевич Граков) ( in Onega — September 14, 1970 in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian archaeologist, who specialized in Scythian and Sarmatian archeology, classical philology, a ...

. He became her mentor and she worked closely with him. They collaborated in researching and publishing material on the Scythians. She became a professor of archaeology at the university. In 1950, Melyukova received her Ph.D. from the MSU Faculty of History after defending her thesis on the military equipment of the Scythians. Subsequently, her thesis became a reference work for all researchers on the weapons and military affairs of the peoples of the

early Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

. Upon the death of Grakov in 1970, Melyukova succeeded him as head of the department of Scythology at Moscow State University. Melyukova died on 7 March 2004.

Selected bibliography

* ''Вооружение, войско и военное искусство скифов'', 1950 * ''Об этнических и культурных различиях в степных и лесостепных областях европейской части СССР в скифское время'', 1954 * ''Скифия и фракийский мир'', 1979 * ''Степи европейской части СССР в скифо-сарматское время'', 1989

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melyukova, Anna Ivanovna 1921 births 2004 deaths Academic staff of Moscow State University Archaeologists from Moscow Scythologists Russian women archaeologists 20th-century archaeologists Soviet archaeologists