Fieldwork

This section presents information on complex, anthropological, archaeological and linguistic expeditions and field studies in which the Center's staff took part.

Africa

2003 – D. M. Bondarenko directed a Russian anthropological expedition studying muslim-christian relations in Tanzania

2004 – present – M. L. Butovskaya has been researching social organization and behavioral patterns in traditional hunter-gatherer, pastoralist, and agricultural societies in Tanzania

2004-2005 – M. L. Butovskaya conducted a study of preferences for marriage partners among modern university students in Tanzania and Zambia

2005 – D. M. Bondarenko directed a Russian anthropological expedition examining interracial and interethnic relations in Tanzania

2006 – D. M. Bondarenko directed an anthropological expedition for the Institute of African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAS RAS) to Nigeria as part of the project “The Image of Russia in Africa”

2007 – D. M. Bondarenko directed an anthropological expedition for the Institute of African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAS RAS) to Tanzania as part of the project “The Image of Russia in Africa”

2008 – D. M. Bondarenko directed an anthropological expedition for the Institute of African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAS RAS) to Benin as part of the project “The Image of Russia in Africa”

2009 – D. M. Bondarenko directed an anthropological expedition for the Institute of African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAS RAS) to Rwanda as part of the project “The Image of Russia in Africa”

2009 – D. A. Zelenova researched squatter communities in the informal settlements of Durban and Cape Town (South Africa)

2010 – D. M. Bondarenko conducted a study of interracial and interethnic relations among university students (Zambia)

2010 – D. A. Zelenova took part in an expedition to Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town (South Africa); Windhoek, Walvis Bay, and Swakopmund (Namibia)

2010 – M. L. Butovskaya studied the socio-psychological adaptation of Russians and their descendants in Tanzania and Zambia

2011, 2012, 2013 – D. A. Zelenova directed field research funded by an RHSO grant “The Phenomenon of Self-Organization as Exemplified by Communities of South Africa in Historical and Contemporary Context,” in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, and Pietermaritzburg (South Africa). Additional research was conducted in a transit camp in Delft, Cape Town (South Africa)

2012 – D. M. Bondarenko studied the mechanisms of functioning of African cultures in Benin, Togo, and Ghana

2013, 2018 – A. V. Tutorski led research in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda

2014-2016 – D. A. Zelenova directed field research in the townships of Johannesburg (Soweto, Alexandra, Orange Farm) as part of the project “Practices of Mutual Assistance in the African City: The Case of Urban Communities of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Johannesburg (South Africa)”

2015 – M. L. Butovskaya studied the socio-psychological adaptation of Russians and their descendants in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia

2017, 2018  – D. M. Bondarenko directed research as part of the project “Orthodox Christians and Old Believers in Uganda: Sociocultural Processes in African Christian Communities.”

2018 – M. L. Butovskaya led a joint Russian-Polish expedition to Tanzania focusing on moral norms in the Hadza and Datoga populations

2019 – M. L. Butovskaya led two field expeditions in Tanzania: the march trip studied mortuary ceremonies among the Haya and Meru under RSF grant №18-18-00082; the june trip examined traditions of cooperation and mutual aid among the Hadza and Iraqw under RSF grant №18-18-00075

2020 – M. L. Butovskaya led a field expedition to Tanzania from February 28 to March 23 under RSF grant №18-18-00075 (PI: M. L. Butovskaya), conducted jointly with D. A. Dronova of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, RAS. The research focused on rural Haya (Kamachumu and nearby villages) near Bukoba

2022 – M. L. Butovskaya led two field trips to Tanzania: April 1-28 among the Maasai of Ngorongoro; July 25 - August 26 among the Hadza of Mang’ola (Lake Eyasi area) and the Haya of Kamachumu, Kagera (Lake Victoria region). D. A. Dronova (Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, RAS) participated in the field trips. Fieldwork collected anthropological materials on the studied populations with particular emphasis on in-depth interviews regarding personality traits

2022-2023 – M. L. Butovskaya led an expedition in Tanzania among the Hadza and Datoga in the Mang’ola area, in the settlements of Endomaga and Gorofani

2024 – M. L. Butovskaya led an expedition in Tanzania among the Chagga in the Kilimanjaro region

2025 – M. L. Butovskaya led an expedition in Tanzania among the Chagga in the Kilimanjaro and Karatu districts

Latin America

1999 – D.D. Belyaev participated in the project "Settlement Archeology of Central Mixtec-Alta" (Mexico)

2001, 2002, 2004, 2006 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in expeditions to the Venezuelan Amazon; the Hoti, Yabarana, Piaroa, Guahibo, Panare, Yanomamo Indians; the basin of the Parahito, Caño Bandarita, Orinoco, Parguaza, Sataniapo, Ocamo, Caño Culebra rivers

2007 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in an expedition to the Peruvian Amazon to the Yagua and Bora Indians; the Amazon River and its tributaries

2009 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in an expedition to the Ecuadorian Amazon to the Waorani Indians; the provinces of Pastasa and Orellana, the basin of the Tiguino and Cononaco rivers

2010-2011 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in expeditions to the Venezuelan Amazon; the Piaroa, Mako, Hoti, Yanomamo Indians; the basin of the Orinoco, Ventuari, Asita, Okamo, Putaco rivers

2011 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in an expedition to the Brazilian Amazon to the Waura, Camayura, and Shawante Indians; Mato Grosso State, Xingu Indigenous Park, Pimentel Barbosa Indian Territory, and the Batovi River

2011 – A.V. Tutorski participated in field work in the Xingu River basin (Brazil) among the Waura tribe

2012 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in an expedition to the Venezuelan Amazon to the Hoti and Yabarana Indians; the basin of the Parusito, Caño Mosquito, Caño Bandarita, Caño Mahagua rivers

2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 – D.D. Belyaev conducted research within the framework of the Petain Epigraphic Atlas project (Guatemala)

2013 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in an expedition to the Brazilian Amazon to the Waura Indians; Mato Grosso State, Xingu Indigenous Park, Batovi River

2014-2015 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in expeditions to the Colombian Amazon; the Barasana, Tatuyo, and Yukuna Indians; the departments of Vaupes and Amazonas, the Piraparana and Miritiparana rivers

2017-2019 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in expeditions to the Peruvian Amazon to the Maces Indians; the Loreto region, the basin of the Galvez and Loboyaku rivers

2019 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in an expedition to the Colombian Amazon to the Taivano and Kabiyari Indians; Vaupes department, the basin of the Apaporis and Kananari rivers

2021 – A.A. Matusovsky participated in an expedition to the Colombian Amazon to the Taivano-Cabiyari-Tatuyo Indians; Vaupes department, Kananari River; visited the sacred sites of Cerro Asi (Taivano) and Cerro Morroco (kabiyari)

2023-2024 – A.A. Matusovsky spent the third and fourth field seasons among the Taivano-Cabiyari-Tatuyo in the Colombian Amazon

2025 – A.A. Matusovsky conducted an expedition to the Kapanaua Indians in the Peruvian Amazon

North America

2013-2015 – D. M. Bondarenko conducted field research as part of the project “Relations between African Americans and Immigrants from African Countries in the USA: The Sociocultural Aspect of Mutual Perceptions of Communities” in 12 cities across seven states: Philadelphia (PA); Boston, Cambridge, Springfield (MA); Evanston, Chicago (IL); Minneapolis (MN); New York City (NY); Albertville, Guntersville, Huntsville (AL); and St. Louis (MO)

2018 – D. M. Bondarenko studied “sites of memory,” the organization of memorials and museum exhibitions devoted to African American history in two states of the so-called Deep South – North and South Carolina

2021 – G. V. Alexandrov conducted field research in Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Virginia as part of the project “‘Black Heritage’: The Historical Role of Africans and Their Descendants in the Cultural Memory of the USA”

2022 – D. M. Bondarenko and G. V. Alexandrov concluded the “‘Black Heritage’” project with fieldwork in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

2024 – G. V. Alexandrov conducted archival and field (hybrid format) research in Boston, Massachusetts as part of the project “The Historical and Cultural Context of Nation Formation under Ethnoracial Stratification”

Oceania

2010, 2018  – A. V. Tutorski participated in fieldwork in Melanesia, on the Maclay Coast and Tanna Island; A. I. Davletshin studied a previously undocumented Polynesian language, Nukuria, on the Fid Islands, Bougainville Province (Papua New Guinea)

Russia

1991-1996 – A.S. Shchavelev participated in the Poseima archaeological expedition

1993-1995 – M.L. Butovskaya studied gender stereotypes in Kalmykia

1994-1999 – M.L. Butovskaya conducted research at the Russian Primatology Center, Adler

1997-2002 – A.S. Shchavelev participated in the Smolensk archaeological expedition

1997-2007 – M.L. Butovskaya studied the ethological and hormonal bases of aggression regulation in children and adolescents in Moscow and Elista

1998 – present – A.V. Tutorski conducts field research in the Russian North (Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions)

2003-2004, 2012 – A.V. Tutorski conducted field research among the Germans of the Volga region (Saratov and Volgograd regions)

2006-2008 – D.M. Bondarenko explored the image of Russia among Africans living in Moscow

2009-2010 – A.S. Shchavelev participated in the Phanagoria archaeological expedition

2012 – D.M. Bondarenko and D.A. Zelenova studied strategies of social adaptation of migrants from Africa in Moscow

2014-2016 – M.L. Butovskaya researched morpho-psychotypes in modern urban and rural society in Moscow and Central Russia, as well as in Yerevan (Armenia)

2015 – M.L. Butovskaya conducted a study on aggression and reconciliation in children and adolescents in Ussuriysk