Ossovskii, G. I.

Ossovskii epitomizes the fluidity of imperial borders in matters of archeological excavations. Ethnically Polish from Zhitomir, he was forced to quit his studies and fight on the Russian side during the Crimean War. He got pulled into archeology by way of studying the geology of Volhynia, where he sat on the local Statistical Committee. He then moved to Krakow, Galicia, to excavate at the invitation of Polish archeologists; his background in geology took him to the Stone Age. After 18 years in Galicia, he returned to Russia, to excavate in Siberia.

Kirkor, A. K.

Of Polish and Tatar heritage and born in Belarus, Kirkor moved fairly easily among the many languages in the region, and with his own typography he courted the local intelligentsia. In 1855 he was appointed to the Vilna Archeological Commission, and worked with the Tyshkevich brothers on the Museum of Antiquities in Vilna. Always engaged in the study of the archeology and ethnography of Litva and Belarus, he could not escape suspicion for his roots. He helped to establish the Vilna Museum of Antiquity, and was elected to the Krakow Academy of Sciences.