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An attempt to briefly present the scientist's views on the past of the Volga-Kama region is made in this article on the basis of the analysis of published works and archival data. In essence, the dissertation by N.F. Kalinin "The most ancient population of Tataria" and its subsequent publications in 1948 and the updated chapter in the collective monograph of 1955 were the first generalizing works on the “primeval” and “early medieval” archaeology of TASSR. An innovative development of the researcher was marking out of three local groups of the Bronze Age population based on the prevailing type of economy, the reconstruction of the women’s costume of the Pyany Bor time was carried out. No less significant is the contribution of Nikolay Filippovich in the study of the so-called Prikazanskaya culture.

In this paper, by using GNSS technologies, some features of the distribution and some morphometric parameters of dams and ponds created by the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber L.) along ten rivers of the Volga-Kama region of European Russia were identified. Detected features depend on the geomorphological, lithological, and landscape features of these rivers and their basins. The significant role of river slopes, as well as landscape zoning, in the distribution of beaver dams and ponds along small rivers in the study region is shown. In the rivers under study, almost all beaver constructions are located on riverbed slopes of less than 3% (most often, less than 2%). In the south of the forest zone (the southern taiga of the Vyatka River basin), the majority of dams and ponds (about 90%) are located on slopes of less than 1%, while, within the uplands of the forest-steppe zone, this location varies depending on the length of the rivers. In general, the greater the average slope of the river (the greater the average elevation of the river basin), the lower, other things being equal, the degree of beaver transformation of such rivers. This feature is better expressed in the rivers of the forest landscape zone and less expressed in the rivers flowing in the forest-steppe zone. Analysis of the morphometric parameters of beaver dams shows statistically significant trends towards an increase in their average height, as the channel slopes increase. Statistically significant trends were also identified towards a decrease in the length of dams and the length of associated ponds, with an increase in channel slopes. It is noteworthy that the critical values of the slope for a statistically significant and relatively sharp change in these parameters are 1.45%, 1.07 (or 0.54)%, and 0.65 (or 0.47)%, respectively. The greatest average heights of beaver dams are confined to those rivers where their basins are composed of loamy rocks/soils (especially those that are poorly plowed), compared with “sandy” river basins. This may be due to the peculiarities of the ratio of surface and underground water runoff in these basins and, as a consequence, different intensities of snowmelt- and rainfall-induced flood flow. We assume that the above-mentioned features reflect the early stages of beaver expansion (population growth) in the studied rivers.

The paper considers the methodological aspects of comprehensive archaeological and geological-geomorphological studies of fortifications dating back to the Early Iron Age – Early Middle Ages. The authors determined that settlements with the remains of earthworks and dwellings located on headland platforms in the condition they have retained until the present day are natural-anthropogenic complexes with three components: archaeological, geomorphological and geological, and should be studied using methods of the corresponding sciences. The history of the development of headland settlements is subdivided into the following three periods: pre-settlement, settlement and post-settlement (relic). The settlement period is in turn subdivided into three stages: the early stage associated with the carriers of the Ananyino cultural and historical area of the Early Iron Age (circa 9th – 3rd centuries B.C.); the middle period related to the construction activities of the population of the Piany Bor, Azelino and Mazunino cultures (2nd century B.C. – 4th century A.D.); and the late stage associated with the Imenkovo culture and the coexisting cultures of the Early Middle Ages (4th – 7th cc.). An analysis of information obtained as a result of studying the fortifications of promontory forts allows to conclude that the distinguished stages represent the historical stages of the development of fortifications across the Volga-Kama region.

The paper contains the results of research in two burial grounds of the Late Bronze Age in the Volga-Kama region according to excavations conducted by A.Kh. Khalikov in 1958 and 1962. They were the Maklasheevka barrows “on the descent” and Deukovо I burial ground at the Deukovo I settlement. Over the previous years, despite a series of mentions in special publications, the materials from these burial grounds have not been fully published. Therefore, often diametrically opposite viewpoints there are in the literature concerning the cultural and chronological attribution of these necropolises. The author makes the first most complete publication of materials from these burial grounds, and addresses the burial rite and accompanying ceramic material. Using the analogy approach, the author makes a conclusion that the necropolises are correlated with the antiquities of the Lugovskaya culture, with a strong influence of the traditions of the Cherkaskul culture on the funerary practices of the Maklasheevsky barrows in the uphill area. The operation period of the the Maklasheevka barrows “on the descent” and the Deukovo I burial ground, in the absence of radiocarbon dates, is determined by the entire chronological interval of the existence of the Lugovskaya culture and can be attributed to the 17th–15th centuries BC.

The article presents an analysis of two accidental finds in the area of the villages of Novoilyinovka and Alchanovka (Kostanay oblast, Kazakhstan). The “Alchanovka” sickle belongs to the products of the Sosnovo-Mazino type, but differs by its zigzag ornament. The high iron content indicates the use of copper-pyrite ores as the raw material dating the sickle to the 14th–13th centuries BC and associate it with the Sargary-Alekseyevka culture. The “Novoilyinovka” celt is decorated on both sides by hanging triangles with ends in the form of “pearls”. By its morphological features, it is close to the products of the Maklasheyevka culture and Novoaleksandrovo groups of metal artifacts of the Late Bronze Age of Eastern Europe. Based on the chemical composition of the metal, it belongs to the Maklasheyevka culture of the Volga-Kama region, and possibly dates back to the 13th–12th centuries BC. Most likely, the “Novoilyinovka” celt is an import from the Volga-Kama region. The “Alchanovo” sickle and the “Novoilyinovka” celt reflect two stages within the period between the end of the Late Bronze Age-3 phase and the beginning of the Late Bronze Age-4 phase of the development of the West Asian (Eurasian) metallurgical province of Western Siberia.

The article offers publication and cultural and chronological interpretation of a bronze ornamented circular buckle with diametrical jumper from Arzhan-1 barrow (Tuva) dating to the end of 9th – beginning of the 8th century BC. The barrow was excavated in 1971-1974 by M. P. Gryaznov and M. H. Mannai-ool. Analogies of the buckle, as well as structural and ornamental parallels are found in the antiquities of the Ananyino cultural and historical area (ACHA) and the western variant of the Koban culture from the Northern Caucasus, as well as in the pre-Scythian complexes of Eastern Europe. This allows not only to identify one of the vectors of cultural relations of the society that left Arzhan-1 material complex, but additionally to substantiate synchronization of this site with the first period of the early stage of ACHA, the early stages of the Koban culture, as well as a range of the pre-Scythian sites in Eastern Europe.

The works by R.S. Gabyashev characterizing the Neolithic cultures of the Volga-Kama region with their combed and stroke-ornamented ceramics are analyzed in the article. In the 1970s, the researcher worked out a chronology of the Neolithic sites located in the Lower Kama river region and suggested a concept of their origin and development. The latest studies using radiocarbon dating have confirmed the validity of the basic conclusions made by R.S. Gabyashev, namely: on the autochthonous origin of the Neolithic cultures in the Middle Volga – Lower Kama river territory; on simultaneous existence of sites with combed and stroke-ornamented pottery; on synchronicity of the southern Chalkolithic cultures and the forest-belt Neolithic ones; as well as those referring to the two stages in the existence of sites with stroke-ornamented pottery singled out by him. However, the dating of the Neolithic sites proposed by R.S. Gabyashev has currently been modified with a view of their earlier emergence

On the basis of a twenty-year investigation, the life-cycle of Torymus cyanimus Boheman (Hymenoptera: Torymidae), a hyperparasitoid of a gall-forming fly in the Volga-Kama region is described. This parasitoid is the top-consumer in a food chain on Cirsium setosum (Willdenow) Iljin, in which the herbivore is Urophora cardui L. (Diptera: Tephritidae) and the primary parasitoids belong to the genus Eurytoma (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae). Mating and oviposition behaviour were studied, and the superparasitism and larval cannibalism investigated in the second parasitoid generation. The superparasitism in T. cyanimus evolved in connection with the ovipositor elongation, leading to eggs being laid later when the fly host has already been completely consumed by larvae of Eurytoma serratulae F. Hyperparasitism and larval cannibalism in the second generation of T. cyanimus might account for the evolution of hyperparasitism in this species.

The installing of sepulchral monuments is not an obligatory element of funeral culture in Islam. However, this phenomenon is widespread among the Tatar people. The tradition, which appeared in ancient times, still exists today. This article discusses the types of sepulchral structures and monuments. A large part of the paper is dedicated to the Bolgar-Tatar gravestones of the 13th– first third of the 20th century in Arabic script. Based on the analysis of the shape, ornament, and stylistic features of writing, a group of epitaphs is distinguished, united by certain parameters and a common area for the 13th–14th, 15th–16th, 17th–18th centuries. For the monuments of the 19th –20th centuries, the gravestone features are associated with the masters of stone carving. Further study of these monuments, including sepulchral structures – mausoleums, on the one hand, and the structure of the text, the language of epitaphs, on the other, will make it possible to identify the peculiarities of the funeral rite external side of certain regions, where Tatar people live.