Lexicon of Katyn Archaeology (1990-2015): Ethnographic Reconstruction of the Research Process and Its Social Reception.

The article focuses on the interdisciplinary research project "Lexicon of Katyn Archaeology (1990-2015)," which compiles and archives dispersed archaeological and ethnographic materials related to investigations of the 1940 Katyn Massacre, where Soviet NKVD officers executed nearly 22,000 Polish prisoners of war and elites. The project uniquely integrates ethnographic interviews with researchers involved in the excavations and descendants of victims to explore the personal, emotional, and commemorative dimensions of the research, revealing how archaeological findings serve both scientific and symbolic roles in memory and identity. It highlights the development of "Katyn archaeology" as a sub-discipline of contemporary past archaeology, shaped by political contexts, personal motivations, and the complex social reception of uncovering this historical atrocity. The study underscores the importance of mediated memories—such as artefacts and family narratives—in fostering remembrance and a quasi-religious reverence among victims' families and communities.