Inventory of archaeological collections in Shevchenko Central Historical Museum (1937–1941)

The inventory of archaeological collections, that later became the part of the National Museum of Ukrainian History, began in 1897. Keeping this inventory had been prolonged with breaks until 1938. The first museum catalogue was filled by famous archaeologists V. Chvoika and V. Kozlovska. This catalogue is a valuable resource that researchers still use to find out the provenance of valuable archaeological finds. The inventory books and cards of the Shevchenko Central Historical Museum still remain less famous. In 1937 in the Central Historical Museum, a new inventory of museum objects, including archaeological collections started. Inventory cards were compiled for museum items, information from which was recorded in inventory books. New inventory numbers were applied to items. Some famous archaeologists and museum workers joined this process: V. Hrinchenko, I. Fabricius, I. Bondar, N. Linka-Geppener, S. Korshenko. So, after the records in inventory books and cards stayed living people (from well-known scientists to simple lab technicians) with their own complex destinies. Some documentation now is lost, making it difficult to investigate. In order to restore the whole picture of the inventory process, the considerable work was done to identify, consolidate and compare the remains of the fund's documentation of the Central Historical Museum, which required the involvement of specialists from different areas of archaeological funds work. The study of this documentation allows recovering the history of the origin of valuable archaeological exhibits that lost their registration information.Key words: the All-Ukrainian Historical Museum, the National Museum of Ukrainian History, the Central Historical Museum, archaeological collections, inventory.