10:00 23.07.2026
From Vikings to Trans-Arctic Corridor: Kunstkamera Director Describes the Three Waves of Arctic Development
© Public Asset
“Today, Russia is rediscovering its northern identity and recognizing that the Arctic is, in fact, one of the country’s key pillars,” Arctic scholar Andrei Golovnyov, Director of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences said.
In an interview with the Development of the Arctic and Far East website, the scholar explained why Russia is the world’s leading Arctic power, shared his vision for the region’s future, and gave a detailed account of each phase of the development of the Arctic.
Three Stages of Arctic Development
Anthropologist Andrei Golovnyov, known for his theory of movement, believes that the development of the Arctic can be divided into three major stages, each driven by distinct historical processes.
He identifies the Age of the Vikings spanning the 9th to the 11th centuries AD as the first phase when a period of climatic warming during the Neo-Atlantic period caused the heavy sea ice to recede.
“It was nothing short of a maritime revolution. Scandinavian Vikings traveled by ship across the Arctic seas and the Arctic Ocean, reaching as far as Vaigach Island,” he said.
According to the scholar, during that period the Vikings settled Iceland, Greenland, and North America.
A similar process unfolded in the Bering Sea, where the ancestors of the Thule Inuit - a Neo-Eskimo culture that existed between the 10th and 18th centuries in northern Canada and Greenland - passed through the gateway of the Bering Strait, settled the Arctic coast of North America, and later expanded westwards as far as the Kolyma River.
“This was how the Arctic came to be settled by maritime peoples during that period. At one point, the Vikings encountered the Skraelings (the collective name used by the Norse for the indigenous peoples of Greenland and North America – Ed.) in Greenland,” Golovnyov noted.
Arctic scholar Andrei Golovnyov, Director of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
© RIA Novosti / Ekaterina Chesnokova
According to the expert, the second phase of Arctic development began around the 17th century, when the whole of the Eurasian Arctic experienced what he describes as a reindeer-herding revolution.
“It was a truly remarkable phenomenon. It was largely driven by the emergence of large-scale reindeer husbandry, the development of nomadic herding and the increasing mobility of nomadic societies,” Golovnyov said adding that this transformation occurred throughout the tundra zone from Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula to Yamal and Chukotka and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Taymyr.
“This phenomenon transformed the Arctic and recreated the effect of a circumpolar culture, linking peoples together through the development of nomadic life,” Golovnyov said.
He describes the third phase as the one unfolding today, when the Arctic’s potential is being rediscovered through a combination of renewed traditional practices and advances in technology and communications.
“Modern communication systems are opening up entirely new opportunities. The Arctic has always been a space defined more by cooperation and mutual assistance than by competition, because there was enough space for everyone.”
Golovnyov believes this attribute of the High North has paved the way for major new initiatives, including the development of the Northern Sea Route, the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor, and expanded interregional cooperation within Russia.
“The likelihood of such cooperation is increasing as a result of climate change. In the Arctic, even a one-degree rise in temperature brings about significant environmental transformation. As sea ice retreats, entirely new conditions for navigation emerge,” he said.
Golovnyov argues that Russian society is now moving away from viewing the Arctic merely as a resource frontier.
“Today, Russia is rediscovering its northern identity and recognizing that the Arctic is, in fact, one of the country’s key pillars.”
A Land Where the Art of Movement and Relations Matters
Andrei Golovnyov also identifies mobility as the key to successfully developing the Arctic. Those who master movement in its harsh conditions are the ones who thrive.
“The Arctic is a land where the art of movement is paramount. That is why transport remains the number one priority, while everything else comes second.”
In this respect, he says, modern Russia owes a great debt to the nomadic peoples of the North, who became the country’s teachers during the era of the first Arctic expeditions.
The scholar added that economic development across the Arctic Zone has always depended directly on transport links: the better the transport infrastructure, the faster the region develops.
“The region’s economy has always depended on how effectively vast territories can be managed. Despite their relatively small numbers, the indigenous peoples of the North have mastered the art of controlling immense spaces, and they continue to teach us this today.”
This helps explain Russia’s success in the High North. The country possesses the world’s largest icebreaker fleet and an extensive network of northern ports. Russia’s Arctic is also home to the Obskaya-Bovanenkovo-Karskaya Railway, which lies entirely north of the Arctic Circle and stretches for 572 kilometers.
Another major infrastructure project currently under development is the Northern Latitudinal Railway, a new rail corridor in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area which will link the western and eastern parts of the region while connecting the Northern Railway with the Sverdlovsk Railway.
Another important aspect of Russia’s policy throughout different historical periods, the historian notes, has been the partnership relations between the country’s indigenous people - the Russians - and the peoples of the North.
“This can be seen both in trade and in personal relations: mixed marriages have always existed. In our mentality, there is no insurmountable barrier to intermixing of the kind that can be seen in the colonialism of Western countries,” he said.
Representatives of northern peoples also formed part of Russia’s elite social classes.
The History of the Russian Arctic
As Andrei Golovnyov noted, for effective and systematic work in the Arctic it is essential to develop a comprehensive body of historical knowledge about the region. The Centre for Arctic Studies at the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences is currently working on a three-volume academic volume titled “The History of the Russian Arctic.”
“No such work has existed until now, although the idea has been around for a long time. Today, we have the expertise, knowledge, demand and creative resources to make it happen,” he stressed.
Panorama of the building of the Kunstkamera (Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the first Russian museum) and the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (Petropavlovsky Cathedral)
© RIA Novosti / Aleksey Danichev
Teams from the governments of Russia’s Arctic regions will also take part in preparing the scholarly work. During the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2026, cooperation agreements were signed with the governments of the Nenets Autonomous Area, Yakutia, and the Komi Republic.
“I believe that the entire Arctic should be involved in writing the history of the region. It should contain an authentic, real and living chronicle of the territory,” the scholar added.
The museum director hopes to limit the project to three volumes, while acknowledging that the publication may become “thicker” as the work progresses.
“Frankly, a three-volume edition is a dream. I want it to become a standard reference book, rather than a multi-volume library ornament that intimidates readers with its size. We will see if we can do it.”
According to Andrei Golovnyov’s preliminary outline, the first volume will focus on antiquity and the Middle Ages. The second volume will cover the imperial history of Arctic exploration and development up to the Russian Revolution of 1917.
“As for the 20th and 21st centuries, they may be divided into two separate parts. I can share this little secret with everyone,” Andrei Golovnyov said.
The work is expected to be completed within three years.
“We are already filling in individual sections of our framework, like bees filling honeycombs,” the historian said.
