Vadim Mikhailovich Masson and his Contribution to the Development of Archaeology of Central Asia

Abstract

Vadim Mikhailovich Masson (1929–2010) was one of the outstanding researchers of the antiquities of Central Asia. Vadim Mikhailovich’s father, Mikhail Evgenevich Masson, was an archaeologist active in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, while his mother, Kseniia Ivanovna Masson (de domo Kopytovski) served in various Soviet institutions. In addition to his dealing with the proto- and prehistoric archaeology covering the Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze and Early Iron Ages of Central Asia and Iran, Masson was interested in the study of the antique civilizations of Central Asia. He headed a number of archaeological expeditions of the Leningrad Branch of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR at ancient sites in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.