The collection is dedicated to the memory of B.A. Litvinsky, who would have turned 90 in 2013. Given the breadth of interests and encyclopedic knowledge of Boris Anatolyevich, the publication includes articles covering wide chronological (from the Eneolithic to the Middle Ages) and geographical (Central Asia, the Middle and Far East) frameworks. It includes the latest archaeological research of the South Tajikistan archaeological expedition, the founder and leader of which for many years was B.A. Litvinsky.