Laboratory Processing of City Collections: Chelyabinsk Case

The article focuses on issues of laboratory processing of archaeological finds discovered by excavations and dated the Modern Times. In 2013 it was established that an archaeological item should pass an age threshold of 100 years. It results in researches of post-medieval archaeology gaining an independent flow. So far, it is determined that traditional practices of laboratory processing are insufficient for researching collections of this period. Furthermore, they lead to a more complicated transfer of these materials to state-owned museums. Chelyabinsk determined the Modern Times cultural layer to be an archaeological monument back in 1991. It was registered in 1992. Over thirty years of urban researches step by step archaeologists formed approaches and principles for forming collections. Currently these approaches and principles are set out in the new revision of the Provisions for Archaeological Field Works and Research Reports. The article suggests three basic blocks of laboratory processing, such as collection studies, mass material studies and stamps studies. The paper gives specific examples of how this work applies to vessel graphic restoration, mass material statistic tables, crockery stamps tables. The research highlights issues of forming comprehensive findings and concepts of studies for the Modern Times archaeology. The article emphasizes lack of generalizing researches and specialized archaeologists.