Boris Nikolaevich Grakov

Born Dec. 1 (13), 1899, in Onega, now in Arkhangel’sk Oblast; died Sept. 14, 1970, in Moscow. Soviet archaeologist and specialist in Scytho-Sarmatian and classical archaeology and classical epigraphy. Doctor of Historical Sciences (1939). Professor at Moscow University (from 1939).

In 1925, Grakov began excavating in the Volga and Ural regions and in 1937, in the Ukraine. He systematized a large quantity of material on ancient Greek ceramic brands and devised a complete classification of them for the Northern Black Sea Region. Grakov worked out problems of the ethnogeography of the Scythians and the social and production systems of the Scythians and Sarmatians. He also distinguished the most important stages of Sarmatian culture in the Volga and Ural regions from the sixth to the fourth centuries B.C . He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and various medals.