The article contains brief information on the creative life and results of studies by Maria Alexandrovna Ochir-Goryaeva, Research Associate of the Prehistory Archaeology Department, Doctor of Historical Sciences and renowned specialist in the field of the archaeology of nomads of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages of Eurasia. She is the author of five monographs and over 170 scientific publications. She has been awarded the honorary titles of “Honored Worker of Science of the Republic of Kalmykia”, and “Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute”. M.A. Ochir-Goryaeva has been a grant holder of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, she has managed international scientific projects, and is presently conducting studies of Bashanta medieval archaeological complex in the Lower Volga region within the framework of a joint expedition of the Kalmyk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences.