The Cherdyn Museum was founded in 1899 as an archaeological museum under the "Society of Enthusiasts of the History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Cherdyn Region." Among the first acquisitions still held by the museum are materials from the excavations of the Malo-Anikovsky burial ground in the Cherdyn district of Perm province, carried out in 1899–1906. The Malo-Anikovsky burial-ground collection is one of the largest in the museum. In the mid-20th century the museum's holdings were supplemented with items of the Perm animal style.
The Cherdyn district is rich in archaeological sites from various periods (more than 160 sites are currently known), especially those from the medieval period, which are fairly well represented in our museum.
The main part of the museum's collections comes from excavations and surveys conducted in the Cherdyn district; some collections arrived from neighboring districts of the Perm region: Solikamsky, Krasnovishersky, Gainy, etc.
The primary source of archaeological exhibits entering the museum in the 1950s–1960s was the material from numerous reconnaissances and excavations carried out by the museum director I.A. Lunegov. He conducted excavations at more than 15 archaeological sites, among which the largest is the Redikor burial site. Thanks to I.A. Lunegov's activities, hoards consisting of items in the Perm animal style also came to the museum: the Timsher and Redikor hoards.
The formation of the archaeological collection began in 1899. Items for the archaeological museum, which existed under the scientific Society of Enthusiasts of the History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Cherdyn Region, were obtained from county archaeological sites studied by members of the Perm Scientific Archival Commission — N.N. Novokreshchennykh, S.I. Sergeev, member of the Imperial Archaeological Commission A.A. Spitsyn — as well as through purchases from local residents and donations from private individuals. In the 1920s–1940s the collections were replenished by chance finds. Later (1940s–1960s), exhibits arrived from numerous excavations conducted by museum director I.A. Lunegov. From 1961, archaeological research in the Cherdyn district was carried out by detachments of the Kama Archaeological Expedition of Perm State University under the leadership of V.P. Denisov, V.A. Oborin, Yu.A. Polyakov, and A.F. Melnichuk. Part of the collected material was transferred to the museum's holdings. The study of archaeological sites was continued in the 1970s–1980s by Cherdyn Museum staff — A.M. Murygin, G.N. Chagin, V.P. Bochkareva, V.A. Shmyrov, A.G. Polyakov. At present the archaeological collection comprises more than 16,000 items. The most interesting and well-studied pieces are items of the Perm animal style, Oriental silver, and hoards.
T.Ya. Mogilnikova, I.A. Lunegov. Anikovskaya village, 1967.
I.A. Lunegov describing objects from the Redikor burial site, 1950.
Items of the Perm animal style in the exhibition "On the Threshold of New Discoveries. Ancient Metalwork of the Cherdyn Land"
