Protection of the Burana during the Pre-War Five-Year Plans and the Great Patriotic War
Expeditions 1937-1940 at the Burana Settlement
The difficulties of the recovery period in the country, the shortage of archaeologists in Central Asia, and their complete absence in Kyrgyzstan, as well as the closure of the Central Asian Committee for several years, slowed down the ongoing work on the study and restoration of architectural monuments in the region. Neither the establishment of the Kyrgyz Scientific Research Institute of Local Lore in October 1928 (based at the State Museum of the Kyrgyz SSR) nor the Inspectorate for the Protection of Historical Monuments and Art could ensure work on the scientific study of cultural heritage.
In a specially organized comprehensive expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR to survey the productive forces of Kyrgyzstan, an archaeological team led by S. A. Teploukhov worked with the aim of studying ancient ore mining and establishing connections with the latest geological research. It is clear that the applied tasks in archaeology during this period pushed the problems of restoring architectural monuments and studying the historical past of the region aside for several years.
Nevertheless, in 1929, A. I. Terenozhkin, sent to Kyrgyzstan by the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the USSR Academy of Sciences, conducted reconnaissance work in the valley of the Chu River. He surveyed a number of settlements, including Burana, and created a plan of the central ruins of the settlement. However, the information resulting from this work is very scarce. Most monuments were not described. The collected material was transferred to the Frunze Local Lore Museum, where it has partially survived.
From the mid-1930s, an important stage began in the development of Soviet historical science. It was marked by a series of measures aimed at restructuring historical science at a new stage in the life of Soviet society. With the establishment of the Committee of Sciences under the Council of People's Commissars of the Kyrgyz SSR in 1937, scientific research in the field of history and archaeology took on a planned character. This also reflected on the fate of Burana.
In the summer of 1937, a special expedition from the Committee of Sciences and the Kyrgyz Pedagogical Institute visited the Burana settlement, consisting of B. M. Zima, I. A. Chekaninsky, and photographer F. I. Balderman. They conducted detailed photographic documentation of the monuments, carried out reconnaissance work near the tower, and created a plan of the central ruins of Burana. Information about the conducted research was published in newspaper articles, but the plans were not preserved and were not reflected in scientific publications.
A significant place in the historiography of the studied monuments is occupied by the works of the Semirechye Archaeological Expedition, organized by the Committee of Sciences under the Council of People's Commissars of the Kyrgyz SSR and the Leningrad branch of the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1938-1940). The name of its leader, A. N. Bernshtein, who had already been conducting research in the field of Turkology and archaeology since the early 1930s, is associated with further studies of the settlements in the Chu Valley, including the Burana ruins and the Ak-Beshim settlement. The expedition obtained extensive materials characterizing the settled agricultural culture of the valley, including architecture, construction crafts, art, and ideology. In 1938, L. G. Rozina re-measured the Burana minaret.
