“A Time to Gather Stones…”: On the Birth of a New Science. Review of the book: Napolskikh, V. V. (2015). Ocherki po etnicheskoi istorii [An Outline of Ethnic History]. Kazan: Kazanskaia nedvizhimost’.

The reviewed volume addresses issues related to the origins of Finno-Ugric peoples, their contacts with other languages and ethnic groups, it examines cultural influences and borrowings from different chronological periods as reflected in language, folklore, and mythology of Finno-Ugric peoples. In addition to the extensive coverage of evidence accumulated by historians and linguists, the author presents his own research results and discoveries on key issues of cultural and interethnic relations between Finno-Ugric peoples. The book provides a measure to that deluge of knowledge and facts human sciences have accumulated, suggesting that it is now time to bring it together, compare and summarize. Initiating this work right now, at this stage of scientific research evolution, allows us to restore the picture of the origin and genesis of the peoples of the world, starting from a deep prehistoric past. In fact, this work marks the birth of a new science about the history of mankind — the ethnic history. Building on indepth, comprehensive analysis of data provided by various academic disciplines, the author proves the West Siberian origin of Finno-Ugric peoples, shows the chronology and the routes of their expansion to the West, as well as the reflection of these processes in linguistic and cultural contacts with the Indo-European peoples of Eastern Europe. The book has a profound methodological significance. As an interdisciplinary study, it will be of interest to a wide range of historians, linguists, ethnographers, anthropologists, specialists in various fields of knowledge