179 Scholarly Traditions in the Studies of the ‘Late Scythian Culture of the Crimea’ and ‘Crimean Scythia’ Valentina Mordvintseva T he defnitions ‘Late Scythian Culture of the Crimea’ and ‘Crimean Scythia’ refer to a circle of non-urban (usually called ‘barbarian’) archaeological sites, located in the piedmont and steppe Crimea, and dated to the Late Hellenistic and Roman periods. The history of their research can be divided into several periods, which difer in the dynamics of the excavation activities, in the combinations of the analytical approaches and the interpretation models. I. 1 st period. From the late 18 th to the second third of the 19 th century Interest in the ancient history of the Crimea emerged in Russia soon after the proclamation of the Russian Empire by Peter I and the creation of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. 1 The inclusion of the Crimea into the Russian Empire in 1783 entailed a comprehensive survey of this territory: historical (including ethnographic and archaeological surveys), physical-geographical, topographical, economic-statistical, etc. In the late 18 th – early 19 th century, the frst voluminous historical descriptions of the Crimea and its population from the ancient to the modern times were com- piled. 2 Academicians from the capital city of St. Petersburg, such as V.F. Zuev, K.I. Gablit, P.S. Pallas, E.E. Köhler, P.I. Köppen et al., made detours and described the Crimean Peninsula, including its archaeological sites, which were then compared with the setlements mentioned in the clas- sical literature. During these journeys, sketches of ruins were made and antique objects (coins, gems, marbles, etc.) were collected, most of which 1 Tunkina 2002: 27f. 2 Narushevich 1788; Sestrentsevich-Bogush 1806.