Abstract: Russian quantitative history studies began in the 1960s when historians started to use mathematical methods and computers. Those activities contributed to the establishment of the Commission on application of mathematical methods and computers in historical research at the Department of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1968. So, this event initiated by I. Kovalchenko, the future academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, marks the 50th anniversary of Russian quantitative history. The article, written for the column "Editor-in-Chief", through the prism of the materials of this issue of the journal describes current trends in historical information science, which origin was largely due to the experience of computer applications in the quantitative history studies. New approaches are characterized in the application of technologies of virtual and augmented reality creating 3D reconstructions of historical and cultural heritage. The new trend is software modules development aimed at providing validation of virtual reconstructions in historical and archeological studies. New approaches to the study of spatial aspects are developed using GIS technologies in combination with the analysis of narrative sources.  

Keywords: 3D modeling, virtual reality, spatial aspects, quantitative history, e-resources, information technology, Historical Information Science, interdisciplinarity, mathematical methods, digital histiory

Abstract: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the institutionalization of domestic quantitative history which began with the creation in 1968 under the leadership of I.D. Kovalchenko of the Commission on the Application of Mathematical Methods and Computers in Historical Research at the Branch of History of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Today it is necessary to once again emphasize the important role that the quantitative history has played in the development of not only historical information science, but other areas of scientific history in our country as well. The article analyzes those features of the national school of quantitative history which ensured its relevance and interaction with other interdisciplinary areas in historical research, primarily with historical information science, and which remain relevant today. The ongoing development of the Russian model of historical information science against the backdrop of the crisis of “historical computing” in the West confirms the thesis about the balance of the analytical and informational components of the Russian model which is largely ensured by interaction with quantitative history and tradition of testing new methods and technologies for processing and analyzing information of historical sources in historical research for producing meaningful results.

Keywords: research methods, methodology, terminology, historiography, interdisciplinary, historical information science, quantitative history, electronic resources, source study, scientific schools

Abstract: The article describes how the author forms a counterfactual model forecasting the dynamics of Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange index after July 1914 before the war which radically changed the factor role of prewar dynamics. The author hypothesizes that the decreasing trend of St. Petersburg Stock Exchange index during the last prewar year was caused by internal economic factors which could determine further dynamics of the index when no war is assumed. To test this hypothesis the author has developed ARIMA statistical model within the R software environment. This model is an integrated model of autoregressive moving average which is an extension of the ARMA model for nonstationary time series. The counterfactual model has demonstrated that in case the influence of the pre-war period factors continued, the dynamics of the index over the next year would tend to decrease, even if the war did not begin. Thus, one can speak of the beginning recession phase in the cyclical development of Russian industry in 1913.

Keywords: the counterfactual model, mathematical modeling, the stock exchange index, the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, the First World War, Russian empire, economical history, retro forecast, the ARIMA model, the R software environment

Abstract: The article reconstructs the building system of the antique fortress town Gorgippia in the 6th-4th centuries BC that was located in the south-west part of the Bosporan Kingdom. The development of the town center on the territory of modern Anapa for a period of 2.5 thousand years has changed the ancient landscape. However, the traces of the ancient town can be seen when archeological excavation materials, historical documents (cartographic materials and other visual sources in particular) are analyzed. Using modern methodological approaches such as BIM, photogrammetry and aerial photography, 3D modeling and sculpting, the authors step by step create 3D reconstruction of the ancient landscape, restore residential, commercial, religious, administrative and fortification buildings of Gorgippia in the Archaic Era. The results obtained allow the authors to reconstruct the life of the ancient seaside trading town with its distinctive culture, to deeper consider the formation of its individual districts as well as transport routes and the building system itself from its foundation to destruction. The study of the formation processes of the ancient town and its 3D reconstruction contribute to the development of historical urban science in general.

Keywords: historical research methods, urbanism, archaeology, archaic epoch, Bosporus, culture heritage, Gorgippiya, virtual reconstruction, BIM, photogrammetry

Abstract: Whitestone St. Georger’s Cathedral is one of the most well-known monuments of pre-Mongol stone architecture in Vladimir-Suzdal Rus in the 13th century. The unique feature of the cathedral is the carved whitestone décor which themes are those of Christian iconography, pagan images and floral ornament. In the 15th century the cathedral fell down and was restored, but the integrity of stone reliefs was lost. Later the reliefs were restored by masters of Vasiliy Ermolin in random order thus complicating the task of their correct order reconstruction. During reconstruction the temple became lower, lost its original proportions and the unique ornament. Some reliefs were lost while the others happened in hard-to-get places. Some stone reliefs can be found in the cathedral masonry under the temple roof or in the columns. Inside the building one can see reliefs which have not been used by masters during reconstruction. Researchers have attempted to reconstruct the cathedral many times, but the oddness of reliefs and their multiple damages complicated this work. Modern information technologies (laser scanning, photogrammetry, 3D modeling programs and BIM) provide for solving the problem of reconstructing the cathedral original appearance and lost ancient themes as well as testing the cathedral reconstruction hypotheses at hand. Digitization of stone reliefs allows the researcher to work with them in digital format preserving the integrity of the object. One of the results is the software environment developed by the authors to systematize stone reliefs. Within this environment the authors have reconstructed a number of lost mythical and biblical themes of stone reliefs located on the cathedral walls. 

Keywords: St. George's Cathedral, Vladimir-Suzdal principality, Yuryev-Polsky, virtual reconstruction, 3D modeling, temple architecture, pre-Mongol Russia, culture heritage, Russian history, history visualization

Abstract: The article puts forward a new approach to the development of virtual reconstruction of historical and cultural heritage objects that is based on the advanced 3D modeling technologies and addresses the issues of historical urban science. Along with sociocultural significance and architectural importance of the lost cultural heritage objects (convent complex in this case) for virtual reconstruction tasks, an important criterion for their selection is the preservation rate of the source base. The article focuses on the use of virtual and augmented reality technologies in historical reconstruction tasks. As an additional opportunity to “plunge” into the historical past, the authors propose the creation of historical panoramas to use them in pads or smartphones. The article also studies the technology associated with the use of VR HMD. 3D modeling, digital sculpting, photogrammetry of monuments, layer projection technologies form an important part of methods used in this work. The article is the first in Russian historiography to address the practical use of virtual and augmented reality technologies to reconstruct the lost objects of the historical building system (by the example of Strastnoy Convent). The authors test the software module that validates / verifies the results of virtual reconstruction as well as enhances representation and visualization opportunities of these results. The authors simulate the augmented reality within the virtual reality and thus overcome limitations of AR. 

Keywords: augmented reality, virtual reality, visualization, Strastnoy convent, 3D modeling, virtual reconstruction, verification, VR HMD mount, historical and cultural heritage, urban history

Abstract: Modern approach to the study and preservation of archaeological sites is based on the complex application of natural-science and archaeological methods. The development of archeological site study algorithm (aerial photography, geophysics, soil examinations, etc.) is a topical research trend. An effective tool to compare different data is a geographic information system which contains not only traditional cartographical and thematic layers, but also transformed maps (which result from the application of operators to initial maps) and interpretation layers (which result from the comparative analysis of the transformed maps). The article addresses the Kushmanskoe settlement dated 9th-13th centuries AD. It was one of medieval Finno-Ugrian settlements in the basin of Cheptsa river (the northern part of the Udmurt Republic). To interpret the interdisciplinary data complex the author offers informative markers to estimate the preservation state of the cultural layer and decision rules to recognize the areas with characteristic properties. As a result, the author has determined the boarders of the settlement parts with different preservation state of the cultural layer: that with transformed surface and a substituted one. He has also found a part of “household periphery” Uchkakara – a boarder of the cultural heritage object. The analysis of mutual alignment of geophysical anomalies related to local underground objects let the author reconstruct proper layout of the settlement.

Keywords: initial cards, reconstruction of layout, preservation of culture layer, soil researches, geophysics, aerial photography, geoinformation analysis, archaeological site, transformed cards, interpretative cards

Abstract: The article studies spatial mobility and information dissemination within the medieval space. The research object is the factors of information conductivity such as geographical activity of the population and individuals as well as general spatial characteristics such as topographic conditions, population density and communication routes. The author pays special attention to the geographical outlook of the authors of narrative sources and their ability to remotely monitor Henry IV’s movements. Particular attention is paid to the influence of geographical imperatives that determine the content of sources. The author explains the distortion of localizations and inconsistencies of dates. The research method is the predominant application of the cartographic method followed by the space-time analysis. The research data were presented as a chronologically oriented geoinformation system. The research novelty is the topics raised. These are the information dissemination in a specific historical context and its influence on various aspects of historical processes. The author also stresses the importance of regular spatial activity of the population for studying historical geography of the region and potential and productivity of the information dissemination from the viewpoint of narrative sources analysis. From the viewpoint of methodology, the research significance is to demonstrate the capabilities of the complex geoinformation project for solving multiple problems. 

Keywords: narrative sources, medieval Germany, cartographic method, geoinformation systems, path system, geographical mobility, spatial activity, Spread of information, historical geography, spatial analysis of sources

Abstract: The article studies the use of GIS and DB to analyze text and cartographic materials of the information systems “Memory of the People” and “Memorial” and non-digitized materials of the Defense Ministry’s Central Archive to identify soldiers accounting for inexact data and data about those missed in action (after being wounded). The key element of the studies is the adjustment of the Great Patriotic War archival maps of the portal “Memory of the People” and a resource of the American Association of Historians “Gutenberg” to functionally use them in GIS and geoportal. The research methodology is the following techniques: step by step studies starting from a supposition through data search to a hypothesis, its test with the help of specialists and individual search for supporting documents with the aim to further perpetuate the memory of the fallen. The scientific component is the creation of database complexes covering the Great Patriotic War maps and those of the prewar periods as well as geocoded data, the formation of the regiments’ configuration, the cross-matching of data of reports on those lost, documents specifying the losses, memory books, financial statements, etc. The research novelty is the complex use of data of the Great Patriotic War maps, both old and modern ones, as well as data of the database “Memory of the People” and “Memorial” and other documents stored in the Defense Ministry’s Central Archive with the application of GIS, DB and authors’ software for cross-matching. The main conclusion is the efficiency of GIS and DB in search of data of those wounded soldiers who are considered missed in action.

Keywords: establishment, the database, wounded, the missing person, reburial, the map, GIS, The Great Patriotic War, geocoding, perpetuation of the memory

Abstract: This article is the final part of the review analyzing the content and functional features of information retrieval systems (IRS) (electronic catalogs, databases) of foreign archives created on the basis of the finding aid in the Internet. Each IRS is analyzed as far as the amount of information stored, adherence to international archival description standards, functionality (including extra search tools (directories) and integration of electronic copies of archival documents and information visualization methods) are concerned. The review employs historical-comparative and historical-typological methods allowing the author to compare information systems (sites, portals), identify typical and exclusive approaches and formulate general conclusions. On the basis of the analysis made, this part of the review draws conclusions in which the author emphasizes the main trends methods of the finding aid representation in the electronic environment develop, explains the features of archival description standards application for creating information retrieval archival systems and also raises the question of adequacy, completeness and reliability of archival IRS information from the viewpoint of research practice. 

Keywords: archives, scientific reference device, portal, sites, databases, electrobical catalog, information retrieval systems, inventories, directories, online publications