On August 11, 2026, the 13th Bolgar International Archaeological School opened at the Bolgar State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve. This year, the program focuses on digital technologies in archaeology, including geographic information systems (GIS), 3D modeling, geophysics, and remote sensing.
The school will run until August 23. Over the course of two weeks, 75 participants—comprising undergraduate students, postgraduates, and young researchers from five countries and 24 regions of Russia—will undergo training across four specialized tracks and present their research findings at a concluding conference.
Representatives from India, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan are participating in the school’s program. The instructors include experts from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University, Ural Federal University, Kazan State University of Architecture and Engineering, and the A. Kh. Khalikov Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The school opened with a plenary session, which was led by Academician Ayrat Sitdikov, Director of the A. Kh. Khalikov Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Welcoming remarks were delivered to the participants by Damir Natfullin, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan; Sergey Tyunyov, Deputy Head of the Spassky Municipal District of the Republic of Tatarstan; and Rifkat Minnikhanov, President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Rifkat Minnikhanov noted that the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan has served as a driving force for the school since its inception, and he outlined its key priorities: the development of digital methods in archaeology, the training of young researchers, and the strengthening of international scientific cooperation.
The President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan emphasized that, over the course of thirteen years, the Bolgar Archaeological School has become one of the country’s leading archaeological hubs, having hosted more than 800 specialists from nearly 50 countries.
The Bolgar International Archaeological School is an annual project that has been held since 2014. It is organized by the A. Kh. Khalikov Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, the Bolgar Museum-Reserve, the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (Samarkand), with support from the “History of the Fatherland” Foundation and the “Youth and Children” national project.
Since 2022, the School has been held in two stages: the first in Bolgar, and the second at one of the research centers in the participating countries.
This year’s four sections cover key areas of digital archaeology:
- “Geoinformation technologies: data processing and spatial analysis”;
- “Digital 3D models: analysis and reconstruction of archaeological objects”;
- “Field surveying and remote sensing”;
- “Geophysical methods in archaeology”.
The school will conclude with an international youth research and practice conference titled “Interdisciplinary Research in Archaeology: Achievements and Challenges,” where participants will present papers on the results of their research.
