Abstract: The subject of the study is the location and population of the Anabar ulus in dynamics. The purpose of the study is to study the dynamics of the number and settlement of the population of the area under consideration using GIS technologies. The author conducted a study based on archival, statistical and cartographic sources. Verification of the reconstruction of the settlement network was carried out during field research in Anabarsky ulus in September 2020. The results of the work are presented by thematic layers in the GIS developed by the author, reflecting the dynamics of settlement from 1926 to 2020. The attribute tables contain data on the population, information about the location of settlements.   The novelty of the study consists in the reconstruction of the settlement of the population of the Anabar district from 1926-2020 on the basis of multi-time maps and census data. It is established that as a result of the policy of transferring the nomadic population to a sedentary lifestyle and the enlargement of farms carried out during the Soviet period, there was a decrease in the number of settlements, while an increase in the population of settlements is traced. The compiled maps demonstrate a decrease in the area of population settlement in the territory of the studied area. A number of research sources are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time and are used in the analysis of the settlement and population of the studied area.

Keywords: reconstruction, localization, Yakutia, Anabar district, GIS technologies, demographics, mapping, population size, settlement, Arctic

Abstract: The article considers the use of digital technologies to study wars and military conflicts in the south of Russia in the 18th – 21st centuries. It analyzes the prerequisites for changing the theoretical and methodological foundations of scientific research addressing the problems indicated. Particular attention is paid to the description of the conceptual approach and the structure of the source database on the history of military clashes in the south of the country. The article provides a list of archives and funds that formed the basis of the database and also contains the description of the possibilities and prospects for its further use for research purposes to select, systematize and group sources. The analysis of information resources, in particular the existing data on memorial culture objects mapping,  made it possible to emphasize the topical necessity to map monuments dedicated to military conflicts in southern Russia. The mapping has been carried out on the basis of the database of Rostov-on-Don and Rostov region’s monuments. Its constituent elements were the information about the restoration work, the source of funding for the monument installation, its physical condition and demand. The introduction of expert interviews as a separate type of sources into the database made it possible to identify the prospects of their content analysis by means of MAXQDA software package.

Keywords: anthropology, historical memory, memorial objects, mapping, Database, Digital technologies, the South of Russia, wars, expert interviews, armed conflicts

Abstract: This article considers some aspects related to a database covering migrants from the Russian Federation and the Belorussian Republic to Kaliningradskaya Oblast. The topicality of the study is the poor knowledge bulk related to statistics of such a large-scale migration process initiated by the Soviet Union in the middle of the 20th century which played an important role in the new region formation. It is the first time when an information resource is created that contains data from a large complex of nominative records made along the way with the mass resettlement of new residents of the region by means of train echelons. Besides the description of the source, the most typical types of its documents (echelon lists, acts on arrival and consolidated lists) are considered in detail. The authors discuss the principles to build the database and substantiate the choice in favor of the source-oriented approach. The describe the conceptual structure of the database with reference to some specific features of its logical model and the organization of the graphical user interface. The article describes how a large group of students added limited access data to the database. A preliminary analysis of the database information shows that in 1946 about 2/5 of the arriving people were unable to work (primarily due to their age). The same share, however among the heads of families, was characteristic of single people without a spouse. The absolute majority of household heads were men.

Keywords: social portrait, demography, information model, source analysis, database, echelon lists, World War II, resettlement, migration, Kaliningrad region

Abstract: The article examines the transformation of the life cycle of a peasant family in Russia in the 20th century in demographical transition circumstances aggravated by multiple demographical catastrophes. The information basis of the study is databases formed during the analysis of budget surveys of peasant farms in the Middle Urals in 1928/1929 and 1963. Supplemented by information from other sources (materials from the population censuses of 1926, 1939 and 1959), these data allowed the authors to compare the family structure of the rural population of the Urals in the 1920s and the 1960s (the initial and the final stage of the demographical transition) and characterize its dynamics (the life cycle). Whereas in a traditional society the life cycle of a peasant family was largely determined by the dynamics of the peasant economy development, the urbanized society witnesses two standards of the family (two-parent/single parent one) with the corresponding types of the life cycle: the nuclear family (the reference version) and the incomplete family (the reduced version). The consequences of the Soviet modernization contributed to the transformation of fragmented forms of the family into a typical variant of the family landscape not only in urban but also in rural areas. Modeling and analysis of the peasant family life cycle at the micro level made it possible to identify the mechanisms of the peasant family adaptation to external and internal challenges that are characteristic of different stages of the demographic transition.

Keywords: marital behavior, family life cycle, budget surveys, Middle Ural, family composition, demographic type, demographic transition, household, peasant family, adaptation mechanisms

Abstract: The article poses a problem of a multi-style character of the urban economy in Russia in the late 18th - early 19th centuries and its reflection in the General Land Survey taken in European Russia at that period. These are the Economic Comments to the General Land Survey which recorded the main parameters of the urban economy within the framework of the unified description program that provide for comparing its agrarian, commercial and industrial components. The study uses the materials of the Economic Comments on 26 cities of two Black Earth Region Guberniyas of Russia – Orlovskaya and Tambovskaya ones. The specificity of the region is determined by its relatively late development and the formation of the urban network within the framework of large defensive projects of the Moscow state. Statistical analysis and GIS-mapping of the Comments data allowed one to come to the following conclusions. This region is commonly characterized by the formation of large agricultural complexes with large (more than 5 thousand desyatins) areas of arable and hay fields surrounding the cities during the General Land Survey. This circumstance significantly increased the area of the city within the framework of the "general urban boundary", but to a much lesser extent influenced the total size of its population. The industry of the cities of the region consisted almost exclusively of small "plants" while big manufacturing production was at its early stage of development and was not dependent on the processes of concentration of small enterprises in individual cities. The function of the cities of the region as centers of trade was much more pronounced. Fairs and/ or weekly auctions were held in most of them. The results of the Economic Comments statistics correlation analysis allow one to assume that further development of the Black Earth Region cities was mainly related to commercial and industrial branches of their economy.

Keywords: Tambov province, Oryol province, history of industry, General surveying, historical geography, socio-economic history, historical urban studies, administrative reform, GIS-mapping, history of trade

Abstract: The article studies a part of Moscow's historical center within Bely Gorod boundaries and is written as a part of the project aimed at creating a 3D-reconstruction of the historical landscape and the city layout in the 1760s-1770s. The authors create a map reconstructing the natural relief in the 14th century and the earth surface in the 1760s-1770s on the basis of archaeological data on the surface depth that preceded the urban life (the 14th century) as well as geological drilling data. The most difficult task was to reconstruct the landforms of the Rachka river valley which is now almost completely covered with a cultural layer. To solve this problem, the map underwent a geological and morphological examination by comparing it with the valley of the river – a natural analogue. The resulting digital reconstruction map of the river valley was verified by overlaying the buildings shown on the instrumental plans of the 18th-19th centuries and corrected. The research results are a series of schemes where the earth surface similar to that in the 14th century is shown by means of elevation contours and a separate map of the Rachka river historic bed. When comparing various materials, contradictions and inconsistencies were revealed that cannot be resolved using the data currently available, but the authors think that a detailed workflow presentation is sure to provide for completing and correcting the reconstructions presented in the article.

Keywords: Geomorphology, Soil science, archaeology, virtual reconstruction, historical landscape, Historical landforms, Urban planning, Source studies, Moscow, White City

Abstract: The article presents the goals and the structure of the database "Parceling and Building System of Moscow Bely Gorod in the 18th century”, created within the framework of the project "Spatial reconstruction of the historical landscape of Moscow Bely Gorod in the 16th - 18th centuries (with the use of modern information technologies)". The database was created in MS Access DBMS and accumulates text and graphic sources characterizing parceling, planning and development of the eastern part of Moscow Bely Gorod in the 18th century as well as urban planning and personal information obtained from the analysis of these sources. The database is the basis for creating spatial 3D reconstruction and one of the main components of the geographic information system being developed. The database as a tool for systematizing text and graphic historical information is a new method to study and reconstruct historical landscapes. It presents sources that served the basis for the reconstruction in an organized way thus greatly simplifying the verification of conclusions and results of the study. The article describes the main objects of the database (historical sources including graphic, town-planning objects (driveways, households, buildings) and personalities (owners of courtyards)) and their interconnections and methods of data formalization. The article pays special attention to the features associated with the processing of property owners' biographical and genealogical information.

Keywords: history of Moscow, history of architecture, urban planning, historical landscapes, source studies, spatial reconstruction, database, Bely gorod, genealogy, geographic information system

Abstract: Virtual reconstruction of an urban historical landscape over a relatively large area requires the reconstruction of historical land surfaces. To solve this problem one needs to obtain a detailed spatial data on the Earth surface elevation for a certain historical period as well as the information about the way it changed over time. The reconstruction can be performed using different software. One of the convenient options is to use geographic information systems (GIS) since this approach assumes work with georeferenced data “by default” thus providing for easier combinations with other reconstruction components. The article describes the creation of digital relief models (DRMs) of the eastern part of Moscow Bely Gorod reflecting the state of the land surface in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries via GIS software (MAG, SAGA, QGIS). Input data for this research are contours from 1:2000 topographic plans and generalized materials of archaeological sources. Using this basis as well as GIS analysis methods, three gridded DRMs (one for each epoch) have been constructed. These DRMs are suitable for use within the GIS environment and for export to other software.

Keywords: interpolation, digital elevation model, historic earth surface, GIS, historical geoinformatics, historical data analysis, raster algebra, geoprocessing, Moscow, Bely Gorod

Abstract: The article summarizes the results of a two-year study of the issues related to the virtual reality and augmented reality technologies use to virtually reconstruct Moscow Bely Gorod in the 16th-18th centuries. The authors describe mathematical methods, software and hardware which grant access to the historical reconstruction of historical urban landscapes. An important feature of the reconstruction is the source verification module which was used to construct three-dimensional models of the landscape, buildings and the general scenery. The article names the basic principles which the verification module and its interface are based on and considers some optimum problems solved when constructing the interface. The project uses a hybrid motion tracking system as a combination of optical and inertial data. The archival sources used in the reconstruction process are presented in the virtual environment by means of a 3D graphical user interface for the virtual reality. The information displayed is generated from the database of historical sources which includes information about the urban development and individual buildings of Bely Gorod, their parts, location, purpose, owners and construction date. The database contains both text and graphic historical sources. The results obtained also include new algorithms, software and hardware systems as well as the experiment results. 

Keywords: Belyi gorod, verification, historical city landscape, 3D modeling, historical virtual reconstruction, mixed reality, virtual reality, motion tracking, virtual interface, biomechanics

Abstract: The article discusses possibilities of geochronological tracking technology for studying the spatial mobility of social groups in Russia in the past. The GIS proposed is necessary to visualize and analyze spatial data in a prosopographic research of about 400 szlachta representatives in Peter’s Epoch. Spatial mobility is understood as the intensity of person's translocation through settlements and his ability to respond to external challenges by moving. The archival materials of the Senate inspection of the szlachta (1721-1723) served the basis for the study and the resource formation. Particular attention is paid to the design of software research tools – the PostgreSQL database and the web GIS based on the latter. It is the first time when geochronological tracking as a geoinformatics method was used to prosopographically study the Russian nobility. The methods of historical source spatial data representation and visualization are implemented in the form of a geodatabase that is publicly available. Two program modules (the GIS among them) grant a wide range of Internet users an access to historical sources text data as well as synchronically visualized data on the szlachta service under Peter the first.  The authors conclude that it is promising to create a special web interface which provides users with flexible text and geodata filtering and analysis. The web project created can be used both for research in the field of social history, historical geography, genealogy and for educational purposes in such courses as “historical computer science” and “digital humanities”.

Keywords: web GIS, geodatabase, NextGIS Web, PostgreSQL, government service, Peter I, nobility, prosopography, historical geoinformatics, geochronological tracking

Abstract: In this study the methods of lexicometry are used to address the problem of what the “medieval power” is in the written documents of the period. The article presents the results of two complementary experiments completed through the platform TXM (to create lexical tables) and by means of the R language (to perform the factor analysis). The first experiment is based on the linguistic model of the “semantic field of the power”. The study of the field structure of the corpora of the 18th century documents of the French aristocracy enables the author to find several types of the power: the right to possess lands and their inhabitants, the right to do something (including the right to command and to order) and the type “in the power of the institution, the person”. The aim is to classify the authorities in addition to the binominal “the spiritual power/the temporary power”. The second experiment answers the following question: what types of the power are more specific for distinct groups of the aristocracy? It has been found out that while abbots and counts mainly used written documents to control their possessions (that is mainly used the right to possess), bishops and kings were empowered with many different rights exercised in the written form. The second experiment also provides for tracing the global process of the concentration of possessions (property) in the hands of the Church. This property was transferred to religious institution from the laic aristocracy in a number of ways.

Keywords: power, semantic field, R, TXM, factor analysis, lexicometry, aristocracy, France, XIIIth century, charters

Abstract: The article studies the interactions of the Chief Designers’ Council members by the network analysis method based on the prosopographic database covering the creators of Soviet cosmonautics. Personal contacts of cosmonautics creators were undoubtedly very important in the activities of senior managers of such a complex scientific and engineering industry as the Soviet cosmonautics was. These are professional relations of the Chief Designers’ Council members the article addresses. The source base of the research is the materials library of the Russian State Archive of scientific and technical documentation, the Russian State Public History Library, the Russian State Archive of scientific and technical documentation, the funds of the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics and the archive of the Memorial House Museum of academician Sergey Korolev. The research novelty is the goal set to study professional communications of the Soviet space program creators on the basis of network analysis as well as the first attempt to collect and process a large array of texts of biographical and memoir sources (5500 abridged pages) associated with the Chief Designers’ Council using a set of quantitative methods. The main results of this study are networks of interactions that show who of the members of the 1946-1967 Chief Designers’ Council had a significant impact on the development of the Soviet cosmonautics and how communication links were distributed between them.

Keywords: incidence matrix, matrix of relationships, prosopographic database, network analysis, professional communications, spacecraft, Chief Council, cosmonautics, single-module matrix, two-modal matrix

Abstract: The word "data" has recently become one of the key words in the semantic field of modern science. This happened due to a sharp increase in information flows in the economy and social sphere and the ongoing breakthrough in the development of methods and technologies for processing and analyzing data in the context of large-scale digitalization and the need to work with big data. This has led to the rapid development of data science. Historical science has been affected by these processes as well. The article discusses the course and results of the 17th international conference of the interregional association "History and Computer" held under the title "Historical Research in the Context of Data Science: Information Resources, Analytical Methods and Digital Technologies". Researchers from 7 countries took part in the conference held on-line. The article characterized the structure of the conference in details and the most interesting speeches of its participants. There were two plenary meetings, two round tales and 9 sections. The conference results show that historical computer science has entered a new stage of its development and has ceased to be perceived as a kind of "niche" area of historical science. New researchers are being involved in its development, the geography of scientific centers of historical computer science is expanding, their studies touch upon the most important issues of Russian and foreign history.

Keywords: mathematical methods, round table, information, Big Data, Data Science, data, association, conference, computer, digital technology