The article is dedicated to the 70^th anniversary of Riza Salikhovich Bagautdinov, a renowed archaeologist, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian History at Samara National Research University named after academician S.P. Korolev. He is made a significant contribution to the study of the Bronze and Middle Ages of the Middle Volga Region, the author of one monograph and numerous scientific articles. He supervised and directly participated in excavations of a large number of ancient burial mounds and settlements in the Samara and Ulyanovsk Regions, Krasnodar Krai and the Republic of Kalmykia. R.S. Bagautdinov is a researcher of the renowned Shilovka barrows which has provided unique materials representing an important source of information for studying the medieval history of the peoples of the Volga Region.