Abstract: The article studies Russian ruble bank notes dynamics in the first half of the 19th century. In particular, it addresses political and economical factors for this dynamics and empirically evaluates the influence of important military, political and economical events on bank notes exchange rate. The author analyzes the direction and the intensity of this influence during the period which is up to three months beginning with the initial start of these factors.  To form time series of the bank notes exchange rate from 1800 to 1839 the article examines Moskovskie Vedomosti that published Moscow stock exchange rates schedules as well as Sankt-Peterburzhskie Vedomosti and Kommercheskaya Gazeta which published Saint Petersburg stock exchange rates schedules. Time series analysis of daily exchange rates has shown that they were more sensitive to endogenous and economical events rather than exogenous and political ones. The study has found out that an exchange rate is more sensitive to internal political and economical reasons rather than external political and political ones. For instance, the sensitivity to cholera was stronger than that to wars. One sees that stock exchange demonstrated more sensitivity to events hindering foreign trade and uncertainty as far as foreign policy is concerned. In addition, it has been found out that Moscow exchange rate was much more sensitive than Saint Petersburg one. However, the later demonstrated longer sensitivity to events. .

Keywords: monetary policy, issue, volatility, dynamic series, market rate, silver ruble, Aassignation, media, economic history of Russia, XIX century

Abstract: Virtual historical reconstructions being an actively developing branch of historical information science are characterized by a peculiar approach to source base formation and study. New complexes of sources used pose several methodological problems of source studies. The first one is the place of scientific and technical documents in classical classifications of source studies. The second one is the place of documents which were created electronically or digitized in source studies classifications. The third problem is the consideration of complex source studies methods (analysis and synthesis) in relation to specific features of different source types and their informational capabilities used to solve virtual historical reconstruction problems.  The author proposes original solutions to the indicated problems based on the analysis of classification schemes of source studies existing in Russian historiography as well as the basic principles of identifying the types of historical sources proposed by L.N. Pushkareva, I.D. Kovalchenko, S.O. Sсhmidt, O.M. Medushevskaya, etc. She also specifies electronic documents (both digitized and initially electronic ones) within the framework of studying the possibilities to "embed" electronic documents into existing classifications of source studies as well as formulates new approaches to the methodology of source analysis highlighting a new stage in the development of source criticism: multidisciplinary source studies.

Keywords: scientific and technical documentation, classification, historical sources, methodology, source study, historical informatics, virtual historical reconstructions, electronical documents, complex source study, multidisciplinary source studies

Abstract: The article describes the conceptual model and the structure of the database on the history of vocational education in Sverdlovskaya Oblast in the 1920s-1950s. The database systematizes and generalizes the main indicators of the development dynamics of vocational education in the region on the basis of a wide range of mass sources. These indicators are organizational, industrial, economical, socio-demographic and behavioral ones. Particular attention is paid to describe the database in terms of its ability to systematize, analyze and group information on the history of work training in the region that is the number of students, the employment of graduates, the dynamics of the educational institutions network, etc. The research novelty is the original structure of the database as an information product for multipurpose use which, first of all, provides for the effective systematization of primary information from various types of mass sources and the creation of a model of historical data on the vocational training system in Sverdlovskaya Oblast. The authors attempt to generalize their practice to digitize, systematize, analyze and synthesize archival vocational education data and formulate the principles to create and use the local historical database within the digital humanities context: complexity, task-orientation, integration, etc.

Keywords: factory-workshop schools, vocational schools, migration flows, prosopography, Sverdlovsk region, technical and vocational education, database, digital humanities, Labor Reserves, mass sources

Abstract: The article analyzes dynamics and regional differences in infant mortality in the post-reform Russian Empire. Based on extensive statistical, ethnographic and medical sources, the authors have shown that the infant mortality rate depended primarily on traditional practices of infant feeding and caring rather than on income, literacy or access to medicine. High infant mortality rate among the Great Russian population (compared with other ethnic and religious groups) was primarily due to the early stop of breastfeeding and solid food feeding. The latter sometimes began in the first days of baby’s life. The authors’ conclusions are consistent with the results of similar studies carried out in European demographic history and show that the use of infant mortality as an indicator of the population living standard in agricultural societies cannot always be justified. Consequently, it is unreasonable to draw conclusions about the stagnation of living standards in pre-revolutionary Russia on the basis of the infant mortality rate.

Keywords: gis, cliometrics, economic growth, mortality, breasfeeding, social norms, infant mortality, russian empire, living standards, ethnic heterogeneity

Abstract: This paper outlines factors that impacted the change of demographic behavior of the rural population of the Central Black Earth Region from the middle of the 19th century to the late 20th century. Factor scores have been determined when modeling demographic processes in 1,500 rural settlements. The authors rely on a classical view that late traditional society was highly dependent on negative natural events, characterized by low migration and strong ties of birth rates with death rates. It has been shown that extraordinary positive factors (the rise of zemstvo medicine in particular) stimulated unlimited natural growth. Short-term stress factors (wars, hunger and epidemics) led to compensatory reproduction. The authors also come to a conclusion that modernized society (the latter half of the 20th century) had more complicated relations between demographic behavior factors. The evolution of modernized micro-communities (individual settlements) was subjected to a great number of nonlinear effects. The data demonstrate that the agrarian society at the time continued the move to natural growth although to a lesser extent than during the previous stages. However, the results of such an intention were largely neutralized by migration.

Keywords: migration, mortality, birth rate, Central Black Earth region, agrarian population, historical demography, computational history, social simulation, demographic transition, demographic strategies

Abstract: The article aims at characterizing the joint project of archivists and historians, the Main Archive of Moscow Oblast and Moscow State University. The project virtually reconstructs historical manors using 3D modeling technologies on the basis of archival materials. The paper briefly examines the evolution of dvoryanstvo manors in the 18th - early 19th centuries, their role in the formation of rural society and their culture as well as the manors’ state at present when most of the remaining manors are in ruins. The article formulates three principles that should be observed when choosing objects for their virtual reconstruction. The author shows the optimal set of sources for solving the problems of such projects. These are, first of all, graphic and text sets of design and restoration documentation which was created for restoration work in the second half of the twentieth century including dimensional drawings, opinion of engineers on the state of structures, draft restoration projects, working drawings for strengthening structures, etc.) as well as albums of photographs characterizing the current state of the object. The final part of the article describes the project work of students to virtually reconstruct five historical manors of Moscow Oblast which are objects of cultural heritage of federal or regional significance.

Keywords: History Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State Unive, Moscow region, 3D-modeling, virtual reconstruction, estate, historical information science, cultural heritage, archival sources, digitization, students' project research

Abstract: Each year the problem of historical and cultural heritage preservation becomes more piercing as an increasing number of monuments are gradually ruined. Manors once being a special cultural phenomenon of the social history of our country are no exception. The article analyzes the complex of sources with sufficient information value for creating a virtual 3D-reconstruction of the main house and elements of Olgovo manor complex near Moscow in the late 19th - early 20th centuries as well as scrutinizes the sources and papers to study the history of Olgovo and its owners (17th - 20th centuries). The reconstruction of the main house and the elements of Olgovo manor complex allows the author to visualize the appearance of the currently ruined cultural heritage monument and demonstrate the practice of applying methods of three-dimensional computer modeling to historical research by the example of manor reconstructions. The author describes the use of modern software (Adobe Photoshop CS6, SketchUp and Twinmotion) to solve the goals set. The research was carried out within the project of the Historical Information Science Department of Moscow State University aimed at reconstructing virtual appearance of Moscow Oblast manors in close cooperation with the Central State Archive of Moscow Oblast.

Keywords: study of historical sources, Moscow Region, cultural heritage, culture, nobility, Olgovo, noble estates, manor, 3D modeling, virtual reconstruction

Abstract: Manors of the 18th - early 20th centuries located near Moscow can boast their specificity within the socio-cultural context of the history of Russia. After a period of oblivion for most of the twentieth century, the manors of Moscow Oblast started to attract researchers of Russian culture, architecture and everyday life in pre-revolutionary Russia. Today most of the well-known manors of Moscow Oblast, once famous for their architecture, park culture, remarkable social history associated with the names of the famous Russians are in ruins. One of the main characteristic features of the manor culture is its synthetic nature that requires combined efforts of specialists belonging to different interdisciplinary approaches to study it. The article analyzes the complex of identified sources that have the potential for creating a 3D-reconstruction of the main house of the manor and elements of the manor complex and which, taken together with the literature, make it possible to study the history of Pushchino-on-Nara manor and its owners. Virtual reconstruction makes it possible to visualize the appearance of this cultural heritage site and demonstrate the opportunities to use three-dimensional computer modeling techniques in historical research by the example of the manor reconstruction. The article also tells us about the author’s use of modern software (Adobe Photoshop, SketchUp and Twinmotion) to solve the goals set. The research was carried out in collaboration with the Central State Archive of Moscow Oblast.

Keywords: cultural heritage, virtual reconstruction, nobility, Vyazemsky, Pushchino-on-Nara, noble estates, manor, study of historical sources, digitization of cultural heritage, SketchUp

Abstract: The article describes methods and technologies of virtual 3D architectural historical reconstruction by the example of the exterior restoration process of Petrovskoye-Alabino manor (18th century) located in Naro-Fominsk District of Moscow Oblast. Currently the object is ruined, the interiors have been completely lost, the facades have also been almost unpreserved and the park has completely disappeared. Petrovskoe-Alabino was a summer country estate built by Nikita Akinfievich Demidov for his wife Aleksandra Evtikhievna who had not seen the manor completion. Having not achieved its main purpose, the manor, despite its unique appearance and aesthetic splendor, did not become famous and left no noticeable traces in historical sources. The primary purpose of the estate determined its special architectural type that is "Monplaisir" which is not often found in Russia. The manor was ruined in the 20th century and is now unprotected. It has not been reconstructed before and all the studies at stake are rather art reviews than historical studies. This article emphasizes the need to preserve cultural heritage and record the current state of destroyed objects as well as describes the process of virtual three-dimensional reconstruction of the manor based on archival and published materials as well as those collected during the research. The work grounds on drawings, sketches and measurements made by professional commissions in the 20th century as well as photographs of various eras, text descriptions of the manor and a set of graphic files created during the process of aerial and land photography of the current state of Petrovskoe-Alabino. Not only have the buildings of the complex been reconstructed, but also the courtyard, the main park alley and the landscape of the main manor territory. The work was carried out in close cooperation with the Central State Archive of Moscow Oblast.

Keywords: Moscow region estate, classicism architecture, Petrovskoe-Alabino, 3D-modeling, cultural heritage, historical reconstruction, digitization of cultural heritage, virtual reconstruction, 3ds Max, Lumion

Abstract: This article describes virtual reconstruction of Molodi Manor near Moscow which has the status of a monument of federal significance. As research methods, the author uses 3D modeling technologies and restores the virtual appearance of the main building, the outbuilding of the barn and the surrounding park complex of the first half of the 19th century. The author uses such modern software as Autodesk 3ds Max, AutoCAD, CorelDRAW, AdobePhotoshop and some others. In addition to a detailed description of the process and modeling methods, the work also studies the history of the manor itself. The article is divided into three parts each reflecting separate stages of the research. The first one speaks about the history of Molodi Manor. The second part gives a brief description of the sources used to create a three-dimensional model of the manor complex understudy. Some particularly important graphic sources, in particular photographs, maps and drawings, are included in the article for illustrative purposes. The basis of the reconstruction is dimensional plans, sections and other drawings provided by the Central State Archive of Moscow Oblast. The third part deals with the practical stage of the research. It reveals methods and technologies for constructing the 3D model, tells the reader about the difficulties that the author inevitably faced in the process of virtual reconstruction. The research is carried out within the project of the Historical Information Science Department of Moscow State University aimed at reconstructing virtual appearance of Moscow Oblast manors.    

Keywords: source study aspects, 3D modeling, cultural heritage, virtual reconstruction, nobility, Molodi, manor, Moscow Region, reconstruction of estates, source study

Abstract: This article addresses spatial reconstruction of the manor complex with the help of 3D modeling and 3D visualization. The topicality of the issue is determined by a big number of dvoryane architectural monuments in Moscow Oblast which have been partially or totally lost, but bear historical and cultural importance at the local or the regional level. Not many of them will be restored but most of them are related to famous or influential noble dynasties that had played an important role in Russian history.  Virtual reconstruction of these complexes is a way to “revive” this history and search for new aspects of dvoryanstvo’s life in the 17th – early 20th centuries. The article describes the main methods and technological solutions of spatial reconstruction of a manor complex by the example of Nikolskoe-Uryupino Manor (Krasnogorskiy Urban Okrug, Moscow Oblast). The manor has become known due to Golitsyny dynasty that created a picturesque architectural and park ensemble. The current state of the complex and many different sources at hand provide for detailed reconstruction of the main buildings as well as create the surrounding space similar to the original one. The reconstruction is described in details starting with the source analysis and methodical studies to the description of the virtual projects visualization.

Keywords: 3D-modelling, Krasnogorsk district, Moscow region, Virtual reconstructions of cultural heritage, Nikol’skoe-Uryupino ex-manor, Golitsyns, 3Ds Max, Unreal Engine, Historical information science, Russian nobility