• Open Access close
• Closed Access close
• Open Source close
• Publications close
• Research data close
• Research software close
• Czech close
• Digital Library University of West ... close
• Digital Humanities and Cultural Her... close

projektem OP VK PVBV – Popularizace vědy a badatelsky orientované výuky, reg. č. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/45.000

The aim of this study has been to broaden our knowledge of the early medieval settlement in the early Pilsen region on the basis of finds from early medieval burial sites and foremostly the revision of these finds. Seventy-two sites with evidence for burials were documented (50 cemeteries and 25 sites with finds of s-shaped earrings, beads and ceramic vessels). The sites can be divided according to their location in the landscape (A–C). The oldest evidence for burials in the region can be dated to the 8th–9th century, but the majority of burial sites falls into the 10th–11th century. The analysis of the burial offerings was focuses mainly on the most numerous group of artefacts represented by the s-shaped earrings (groups M1–VŠ; analysis RFA).

Caves represent portions of past landscapes that were, for a long time, used by humans and their ancestors for various purposes and therefore, they have been a focus of researchers for more than two hundred years. Accumulated artifacts, ecofacts, and sediments can be used to reconstruct the environments and lives of the past. Here, we describe current methods applied to excavations of cave sites with emphasis put on their interdisciplinary nature. The case of systematic interdisciplinary research is documented with regard to the Lapa do Picareiro limestone cave, located in central Portugal, approximately 100 km north of Lisbon. The cave sediments have been dated to between 45 and 8 kya BP. A wide range of evidence from the cave (artifacts, faunal and floral remains, sediments, etc.) is used to reconstruct past natural environments (e.g., Bicho et al. 2011; Haws 2012), including fauna (Haws and Valente 2006; Hockett and Haws 2009; Valente 2004), human diet (Hockett and Haws 2009) and socio-natural interactions (Haws 2012). The interdisciplinarity is a key to understanding a whole series of phenomena which would not otherwise be understood. The current scientific demand for high quality, complex research and publication is mirrored in an increasing trend of incorporating specialists from other fields in research design and management.

Mapping and subsequently classifying encounters with ancient Egypt, one is faced with a large task. In the Western world, where a substantial appropriation of Egypt was developing during past two centuries and Egypt was integrated into local cultural memories, one sees an almost uninterrupted track of Egyptianising forms, especially in European art. However, most art representations of this sort have a background of ideas and concepts. Egypt as a backdrop to the stories of the Bible is one such concept. The renewed intensity of presence of classical antiquity in European culture from 14th century onwards did inevitably bring a renewal of Egyptian themes, given the intense presence of Egypt in the Greek and Roman worlds–presence physical, political, as well as religious and imaginary. The development from the 16th to the 21st century has been defined as “five centuries” of Egyptomania. It should, however, not be taken for granted that Europe and later Northern America were the only scenes who staged Egypt in one or more roles, either as meaningful, or monumental, or decorative and lustful or a mix of these. Ancient Egypt has not been lost to the cultural memory of the Islamic world either. In the 19th century, the reinterpretations of ancient Egypt took another turn. They were adopted, much in the way other histories have been adopted, as arguments for or against a cultural identity of modern nations. In addition, Egypt takes part in those alternative worlds which look into the future or a mythical past–it is a frequent presence in science fiction and fantasy, as a source of ideologies, concepts or visualisations.An ancient culture with all its manifestations was made into an actor, or rather a puppet, in many shows, also because the appearance of its typical motifs is easily recognizable visually; it is physically expressive, suggestive and whetting the imagination, while its elements can be used to express emotions and to imitate and emulate ideas and concepts well beyond their original purpose.

The past twenty-five years have seen the development of a sub-discipline in archaeology labelled “20th Century Conflict Archaeology” around the world. The sub-discipline is focused on the remains of the military, civil, political and religious conflicts of the last century. Traces of these events are examined using an interdisciplinary approach because many different sources have been left behind to serve the researchers of this field, each of which carries unique information hardly detectable from another point of view. While the First and Second World Wars have attracted the lion’s share of attention, in recent years the efforts of researchers have turned to the Cold War and to the most famous symbol of the era—the so-called Iron Curtain, a fence of barbed wire separating the Eastern and the Western blocs. The most famous part of the curtain is the Berlin Wall. Nevertheless, research of this topic in Czech academia remains marginalized. The aim of this paper is to present how these issues are studied abroad and outline opportunities to study this in the Czech Republic. Our examples are the Iron Curtain itself and the village of Maříž, in whose history the events of the last century left an indelible mark.