Long kurgan culture of the Pskov type: contemporary studies and the role of V. V. Sedov in the study of this culture

The paper reviews the evolution of V. V. Sedov's views on the origin,development and cultural attribution of Pskov long kurgans. Two stages are singled outin this process. In 1950-1980s V. V. Sedov looked upon the two cultures that had similarburial sites (the Pskov long kurgan culture and the Smolensk long kurgan culture) asa single archaeological culture of the Krivichi mentioned in the chronicles. Starting fromthe late 1980s, he focused mostly on the issues of the origin of the Pskov long kurgans,identification of early Central European imports in the artifacts of Eastern Europe andreconstruction of migratory processes that led to evolvement of new archaeologicalcultures, including the Pskov long kurgan culture. Today some ideas and definitions offeredby V. V. Sedov regarding ethnic characteristics should be revised. The most relevant issuesin the Pskov long kurgan studies include the nature of interaction between the population that inhabited the East European forest zone and the populations in the Baltics and MiddleEurope; the kurgan burial rite; settlements of the Pskov long kurgan culture; identificationof specific cultural and ethnographic regions within this cultural community