On November 1, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The international scientific and practical conference "History and Archaeology of Polotsk and the Polotsk Land" opened today in Polotsk, informed the director of the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, Tamara Dzhumantaeva, to a BELTA correspondent. The conference participants, dedicated to the 1150th anniversary of the first mention of Polotsk in chronicles and concluding the program of the 1150th anniversary celebration of Polotsk, include about 50 scientists from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and Poland. Participants will discuss new archaeological research on the history of Polotsk, issues of studying, restoring, and using monuments, and express their views on the study and interpretation of archaeological sites of Polotsk and the Polotsk Land. A separate block of issues concerns the role of the museum in preserving and presenting the cultural heritage of the historical city, and the implementation and effective use of new information technologies in the museum. The scientists' presentations are organized in sectional meetings. "At the same time, during the presentation of their scientific reports, we expect to hear about interesting discoveries regarding previously unstudied and little-known facts of the history of the Polotsk Land," noted Tamara Dzhumantaeva. The conference has been held every five years since 1987. This interval allows scientists to discover new pages in the history of the Polotsk Land. The organizers of the IV International Conference in Polotsk are the Ministry of Culture of Belarus, the Department of Culture of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, and the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve. For the first time, this event is held with the support of UNESCO. The international organization included the 1150th anniversary of Polotsk in the calendar of memorable dates for 2012-2013. Based on the results of the event, all presented reports will be published in the collection "History and Archaeology of Polotsk and the Polotsk Land." "It is expected to be published in the spring of 2013," added Tamara Dzhumantaeva, noting that currently, given the increased interest of domestic and foreign historians, as well as the demand from a wide range of readers for previous conference collections, the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve is working on their digitization. -0-

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