RESCUE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES AS A COMPONENT OF THE MONUMENT PROTECTION SYSTEM (based on the materials of the rescue expeditions of the 1950s)

The paper is focused on the issue of formation of the monument protection case in Ukraine, based on the material of the rescue archaeological researches of the Institute of Archaeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the South of Ukraine during the 1950s (Beryslavsko-Kakhovska, Havrylivska, Nikopolska, Nikopolsko-Havrylivska, Hornostaivska, Snigurivska, Molochanska, Terpinivska expeditions). Rescue excavations were carried out in the area of construction of the Kakhovka reservoir, irrigation construction in the valley of the Molochna River and in Lower Ingulets River. The archaeological sites (settlements, hillforts, burial grounds, and barrows), which were mostly located near river banks and were targets for destruction, were examined in the paper. In addition, a certain emphasis is placed on the regulatory and legal framework for the protection of monuments, which was relied on by the Institute of Archaeology in matters of organizing, conducting and financing archaeological work on the places of great construction. The process of formation of monument protection legislation from the first «new construction» expeditions in Ukraine to the 1950s is traced. It is noted that this process was initiated during the Ukrainian revolution by the governments of the Central Rada, Pavlo Skoropadsky, and Directories. In our opinion, the consideration of explored and excavated archaeological sites in the area of the Kakhovsky Reservoir is necessary, taking into account the destruction of its dam in 2023. A significant number of archaeological sites, explored 70 years ago and previously unknown, became available for exploration as a result of the lowering of the water level in the Dnieper. However, it is impossible to carry out this study during the war. In addition, this territory (Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzha, Dnipropetrovsk regions) is constantly suffering under enemy fire. Some of the monuments under study are occupied (for example, Kamiana Mohyla), which cannot help but disturb.