Valentin Sedov

Valentin Vasilyevich Sedov (Валентин Васильевич Седов; 1924–2004) was a prominent Russian archaeologist and historian specializing in the ethnogenesis of the Slavs, the history and culture of Ancient Rus, and the study of early Finno-Ugric and Baltic peoples. Based on his extensive fieldwork around the Russian Plain (particularly in the Pskov region), he developed an up-to-date theory of the origin of the Slavs. He was elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Latvian Academy of Sciences (1994)

After demobilization, Sedov joined the History Faculty of Moscow State University, graduating in 1951 under the mentorship of Artemy Artsikhovsky. He began participating in archaeological expeditions as early as 1947, later organizing digs to the south from Moscow, in Belarus and the Novgorod region.

His 1951–1952 excavations at Peryn near Novgorod resulted in a groundbreaking reconstruction of a Slavic pagan sanctuary (though its accuracy has been disputed). His later work at "Truvor's town" in Izborsk revealed several stages of proto-urban evolution (which he thought was typical for all early East Slavic towns).

Sedov's work was honored with the USSR State Prize (1984), the Zabelin Prize (1994, from the Russian Academy of Sciences), the Demidov Prize (1998), and the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1998).