Central Chernozemie in the biography and researches of M.E. Foss

The following paper deals with the research activity of Maria Evgenyevna Foss in Central Chernozemie. Considering the fact that Voronezh played a decisive role in the fate of M.E. Foss (she studied here, formed as a person, acquired the first experience of archaeological research, museum work, collected an extensive data bank on collections from the regional sites, to which subsequently repeatedly referred to herself and such famous archaeologists as T.B. Popova, O.A. Krivtsov-Grakov, V.P. Levenok, N.N. Gurina, A.D. Pryakhin, A.T. Sinyuk and others), special attention is paid to biographical information reflecting the connection of the Foss family with Voronezh. Its the first time when the results of the analysis of documents from the SAVO funds with the additions of Margarita Foss - Maria Evgenyevnas niece - are published. Without challenging the opinion that has been established in modern Neolithic studies that M.E. Foss prioritized sites and cultures of the forest zone, it is proved that her contribution to the study of the antiquities of the forest-steppe is much greater than it seems to the modern archaeological community. It was based on archival sources (from the funds of IA RAS, SA IHMC RAS, DFR SHM, Michurinsk Museum (Tambov Region)) and special literature. The results of her research of Shelaevo dunes (modern Belgorod Region), on settlements of different times in Voronezh (burial ground Chastye kurgany, the site of Otrozhka, the site of Kostenki IV (Aleksandrovka)) and Tambov (sites of Podzorovo and Glinishche) regions have not lost their significance up to the present time.