Boris Grakov

Boris Nikolaevich Grakov (Russian: Борис Николаевич Граков) (December 13 [O.S. December 1] 1899 in Onega — September 14, 1970 in Moscow) was a Soviet Russian archaeologist, who specialized in Scythian and Sarmatian archeology, classical philology and ancient epigraphy.

Grakov graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of the Moscow State University in 1922. He became the Doctor of Science in history in 1939 and was a professor of the university since then. Since 1925 he performed excavations near Volga and Ural mountains and since 1937 in the Ukraine. Grakov systematized the huge amount of information on ceramic stamps of the Ancient Greece and created the full catalog of such stamps from the Northern Black Sea region. In 1938-41 and 1944-52 he excavated Kamenskoe Gorodishche near Nikopol, a large center of the Bronze Age and Iron Age culture of Scythians. He worked out issues of the Scythian ethnic geography and on social structure and industries of Scythians and Sarmatians. He pointed out main milestones of the 6th to 4th century BC Sarmatian culture in Volga and Ural regions. In particular, between 1945 and 1947 he proposed the four-phase periodization scheme for history and culture of Sarmatian tribes in those regions.He was an important mentor of Anna Melyukova, who succeeded him as Head of the Department of Scythology at Moscow State University.

Grakov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and various medals.