image/svg+xml
223
VII/2/2016
InterdIscIplInarIa archaeologIca
natural scIences In archaeology
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
A look at the region
Archaeological Centre Olomouc – Institutional History
Jaroslav Peška
a
, Lukáš Šín
a*
a
Archaeological Centre Olomouc, U Hradiska 42/6, 77900 Olomouc, Czech Republic
1. Introduction – institutional history
The Archaeological Centre Olomouc (ACO), the publisher of
the IANSA Journal, was founded on 1
st
January 2003. It is an
allowance organization of the Olomouc Region, which acts as
a specialized archaeological institution of this administrative
territorial unit (Figure 1). Until the date of its foundation,
in the years 1995–1998 the ACO acted as an organization
titled the Institute of Archaeological Heritage Olomouc, and
in the years 1999–2002 it was known as the Archaeological
Centre of the Regional Museum in Olomouc. ACO takes an
active part in the protection and salvation of movable and
immovable archaeological monuments with the Olomouc
Region and, where appropriate, in other territories as well.
It carries out development-led archaeological excavations as
well as rescue excavations induced by construction or any
other earthworks. It records and documents archaeological
actions, fnds and fndspots, stores fnds during their technical
and professional processing, presents the excavation results
to professionals as well as the non-professional public,
participates in educational and methodology activities in the
feld of archaeology, and cooperates with other archaeological
institutions and cultural organizations. Since 2003, ACO
has carried out 375 archaeological rescue excavations
and more than a thousand archaeological watching briefs
at various construction works and actions (Figures 2, 3).
These archaeological excavations yielded more than one
million fnd items which were treated in the ACO laboratory
(Figure 4). Individual archaeological excavations were
documented by relevant excavation reports (185 issues).
2. Activities, Projects and Cooperation with associated
Institutes and Societies
ACO professional workers published more than
300 scholarly and research articles and papers in many
domestic and foreign periodicals, collected volumes and
Volume VII ● Issue 2/2016 ● Pages 223–228
*Corresponding author. E-mail: sin@ac-olomouc.cz
ARtiCle infO
Article history:
Received: 21
st
August 2016
Accepted: 28
th
December 2016
Key words:
Archaeological Centre Olomouc
archaeological excavation
cultural heritage
interdisciplinarity
Olomouc region
AbstRACt
The care of archaeological monuments in the region of central Moravia is presently fulflled through
the activities of the Archaeological Centre Olomouc. The centre was founded on January 1
st
, 2003
with the goal of saving the important parts of a disappearing cultural heritage. It thus takes care of
archaeological rescue excavations caused by various construction works. It records and documents
archaeological actions, fnds and fndspots, stores the fnds during their technical and professional
processing, and then presents the excavation results to professionals along with the non-professional
public. It also cooperates with other archaeological or cultural organizations and academic institutions.
Research activities are also focused on the interpretation of particular historical events in individual
societies using the data obtained by archaeological excavation. The centre applies the same theoretical
approach to all the many other disciplines it incorporates in its work. Using the methods of several
disciplines enables the integration of data and research cooperation in studies of settlement in particular
regions in the past. The criteria for such interdisciplinary research are described in this article. The
Archaeological Centre Olomouc, therefore, ofers the creation of a platform for interdisciplinary
cooperation between experts from various disciplines that concerns direct cooperation in feld research
and the modelling of reconstruction procedures involving settlement and funerary activities.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2016 ● VII/2 ● 223–228
Jaroslav Peška, Lukáš Šín: Archaeological Centre Olomouc – Institutional History
224
monographs. They are the authors or co-authors of many
publications, often acting as editors (Archeologické
zrcadlení/Archaeological Refections, Dědictví věků,
Protoúnětické pohřebiště z Pavlova) or co-publishers, as well
as the outputs of projects accomplished in cooperation with
other institutions in our country and abroad (Popelnicová
pole a doba halštatská, České Budějovice 2004; PANTA
RHEI Studies on the Chronology and Cultural Development
of South-Eastern and Central Europe in Earlier Prehistory,
Bratislava 2010; Archaeology and Airborne Laser Scanning
of the Landscape, Plzeň 2013). Besides the IANSA Journal,
ACO also issues a regular series of specialized publications
which mainly present the results of excavations in the parent
region. Among these are Ročenka Archeologického centra
Olomouc, the monographic series Archeologiae Regionalis
Fontes (ARF), and volumes about signifcant archaeological
sites or topics Archeologické památky střední Moravy
(APSM). Information about the current activities of ACO
is published on the website www.ac-olomouc.cz. The
institution acts as applicant or co-applicant in many projects
of international impact. Among the most important ones
are: Metal Corrosion Products in Archaeology: Complex
Approach – Czech Science Foundation; A Burial Ground of
the Bell Beaker Culture on the Motorway D1 Vyškov-Mořice
Figure 1.
Archaeological Centre Olomouc,
Main building. Photo: M. Bém.
Figure 2.
Exploration of medieval well,
Tepenec castle, site Jívová – Tepenec (dist.
Olomouc). Photo: V. Vránová.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2016 ● VII/2 ● 223–228
Jaroslav Peška, Lukáš Šín: Archaeological Centre Olomouc – Institutional History
225
– Czech Science Foundation; Research into Historical Roads
of Northwest Moravia and East Bohemia – National and
Cultural Identity Programme, Ministry of Culture of the
Czech Republic; Partnership in Research and Presentation
of Archaeological Heritage (Figure 5) – ESF OP Education
for Competitiveness (
e.g.
Šmejda 2014); Yamnaya Impact:
Summer School, Archaeological Heritage and Research into
European Population History – Visegrad Fund; Moravian
Crossroads – National and Cultural Identity II Programme,
Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. Encouraging
results have proceeded from a project supported by the
Olomouc Region entitled Preventive Archaeology: a project
of preventive archaeological rescue excavations in the
Olomouc Region reducing the damages caused by illegal
use of metal detectors at archaeological sites (Figure 6). In
cooperation with German institutions (Romano-Germanic
Commission Frankfurt, University of Halle), it was possible
to carry out a geophysical survey of many Neolithic and
Early Bronze Age hill-top and fortifed sites in Moravia
(Figure 7). The cooperation culminated in joint research
into an Early Bronze Age circular enclosure in Vřesovice
in the Prostějov region – together with Martin Luther
University of Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Archaeological
Heritage Brno, and Palacký University Olomouc (Daňhel
Figure 3.
Preparation of skeletal burial,
site Majetín, Náves street (dist. Olomouc).
Photo: J. Vrána.
Figure 4.
Archaeological Centre Olomouc,
Ceramic laboratory. Photo: M. Bém.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2016 ● VII/2 ● 223–228
Jaroslav Peška, Lukáš Šín: Archaeological Centre Olomouc – Institutional History
226
et al.
2015, Fojtík
et al
. 2016). Besides presentations at
numerous domestic and foreign conferences, the research
results are regularly presented to the non-professional public
through educational lectures, and occasional or permanent
exhibitions. There is a very wide and varied domestic and
international cooperation with other archaeological and
nature-scientifc institutions including academic facilities.
The closest cooperation is with the Palacký University
Olomouc.
3. Interdisciplinary approach
sensu lato
The above-mentioned specialized activities of the institution,
along with publications and presentations, show that the
professional working and research activity of ACO workers
is focused on the interpretation of particular historical events
in individual societies with the help of data obtained by
archaeological excavations. The reconstruction of the life of
a particular people (or small defned groups) living in the past
Figure 5.
Lecture of Lubomír Prokeš at the
workshop “Methods of Anthropology”, 11
th
– 12
th
April 2013. Photo: L. Šín.
is methodically based not only on descriptions of tangible
archaeological evidence,
i.e.
not only on fnd contexts,
their description and chronological classifcation. Tangible
evidence represents only a partial element of social systems.
Past societies – as components of ecosystems – can be detected
not only on the basis of their material displays. Human
populations – as particular cultural systems – must be assessed
with regard to their interaction with the external environment.
These interactions allow us to suppose the existence of
stable adaptative mechanisms in historical societies, such as:
applied settlement and subsistence strategies; technological
strategies of the processing of particular materials; functional
economic strategies; the diversifcation of society; and
religious customs. Such a hypothesis, based on the existence
of these mechanisms of adaptation, enables us to reconstruct
the cultural displays of past societies. This method demands
the application of the same theoretical approach equally in
other disciplines. Using the standard methods of several
disciplines enables an integral cooperation in studies of the
settlement of particular regions in the past.
Figure 6.
Shield fbula found with metal
detector, site Nové Dvory – Náměšť na Hané
(dist. Olomouc). Photo: M. Bém.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2016 ● VII/2 ● 223–228
Jaroslav Peška, Lukáš Šín: Archaeological Centre Olomouc – Institutional History
227
This discourse thus has to meet those criteria of
interdisciplinary research, in particular on the basis of
common values, conceptual defnitions, methodological
continuity and epistemology. Interdisciplinary approach is a
counterweight to the ongoing specialization of disciplines.
Such specialization can generate professional applications
tailored to individual research subjects. However, the
standard component of feld research practice of ACO
workers represents an integral cooperation with experts
from other disciplines, mainly concerned with sampling
at localities with archaeological excavations in progress.
ACO ofers the creation of a platform for interdisciplinary
cooperation between experts from various disciplines
concerning their direct cooperation in feld research and
the modelling of reconstruction procedures involving the
settlement and funerary activities at individual localities.
Figure 7.
Geophysical monitoring,
site Bohuslavice u Kyjova (dist. Hodonín).
Photo: M. Daňhel.
Figure 8.
Prospecting and monitoring by
aerial archaeology, site Jívová – Tepenec
(dist. Olomouc). Photo: M. Kalábek.
4. Interdisciplinary approach
sensu stricto
This interdisciplinary interconnection of excavations,
technical and natural-scientifc analyses, and conservation
of artefacts, has enabled the identifcation of the negative
imprints of leather on corroded bronze objects from the
funerary equipment of Early Bronze Age graves unearthed
in Hulín – U Isidorka (Peška
at al.
2005; Peška
at al.
2005a). This approach brought forth a perspective: the
creation of a set of determined fngerprints of a particular
prehistoric population. The fnd thus opened up the problem
of previously applied methods of cleaning and conservation
of bronze objects; namely that previous conservation
irretrievably removed corrosion products together with any
anthropogenic marks. New perspectives were also revealed
by the confrontation of fnger rings and the skeleton hand.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2016 ● VII/2 ● 223–228
Jaroslav Peška, Lukáš Šín: Archaeological Centre Olomouc – Institutional History
228
This approach was only possible when the excavation method
used maintained the mutual relation between the components
compared. Information was obtained which allows us to say
that the deceased individuals bore fnger rings during their
lives. If the fnger rings were only grave goods, then they
were chosen thoroughly with regard to the size of the fnger
of the deceased person (Peška, Králík, Selucká 2006).
A methodical approach akin to that of forensic science
was applied in the analysis of a grave context detected in
Olomouc – Nemilany, Lidická Street (Nemilany 4 site) in
2005. The analyses were focused on a male inhumation burial
dated to the period of the Corded Ware Culture. The burial
was extraordinary not only for its unusually well-preserved
skeletal remains but also regarding some aspects of the
burial rites undertaken (the male was probably buried in a
half-sitting position). The research also included the analysis
and evaluation of some remnants of funerary equipment
(animal bones, lithic and bone artifacts, boar tusks), the
anthropological analysis of skeletal remains (sex diagnosis,
estimation of age and stature, assessment of the state of health
based on skeleton and dentition). The basic view was also
extended by the analysis of dental microabrasions, which
focused on the eating habits of this individual or on the way
in which he used his dentition (probably also as a work tool),
and by an anthropological reconstruction of their appearance
based on the skull. The study was also enriched with use-
wear analysis of working marks on tools made from boar
tusks, and a sex analysis based on aDNA (Králík
at al.
2006;
Urbanová
et. al
. 2007). This nearly exhaustive methodical
approach has been applied generally by ACO workers within
the process of the evaluation of feld research results (
e.g.
Fialová
at al.
2016; Jarošová
at al.
2006; Peška, Králík 2013;
Šín, Vrána 2014). The close cooperation with experts in the
feld of geology, petroarchaeology, archaeozoology, use-wear
analysis, analytical chemistry, anthropology, archaeobotany,
palynology and others is the standard practice. The traditional
method is already represented by intensive aerial surveys
(Figure 8), particularly in central Moravia, which was
upgraded recently by the use of laser images of the landscape
(LIDAR). Chemical analyses of the inflls of features and
vessels have been carried out with increasing intensity
and yielded many surprising results (milk and millet, fats
and oils, pigments from bird excrements,
etc.
). Modern
metallurgical research is motivated by the efort to reveal the
secret of technological procedures and the origins of metals.
The activity of the institution has also targeted the problem
of absolute chronology, as exemplifed by signifcant fnd
contexts. New methods of analysing amber artefacts and raw
amber have also come to the fore in an all-European context.
Selected publications
BÉM, M.
at al.
2001:
Archeologické zrcadlení. Archaeological refections
.
Vlastivědné muzeum, Archeologické centrum, Olomouc.
DAŇHEL, M., FOJTÍK, P., NORTHE, A., PEŠKA, J. 2015: Vřesovice (k. ú.
Vřesovice u Prostějova, okr. Prostějov).
Přehled výzkumů
56/1, 198–199.
FIALOVÁ, D., SKOUPÝ, R., DROZDOVÁ, E., KRZYŽÁNEK, V., ŠÍN,
L., BEŇUŠ, R., KLÍMA, B. 2016: The Application of Scanning Electron
Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX)
in Ancient Dental Calculus for the Reconstruction of Human Habits.
In:
Microscopy and Microanalyses
. Cambridge University Press 22,
Supplement S3, New York, 2056–2057.
FOJTÍK, P., NORTHE, A., PEŠKA, J. 2016: Vřesovice (k. ú. Vřesovice u
Prostějova, okr. Prostějov).
Přehled výzkumů
57/1, 234–236.
JAROŠOVÁ, I., KRÁLÍK, M., NOVÁČEK, J., PEŠKA, J., TAJER, A. 2006:
Antropologické hodnocení tělesných pozůstatků jedince jevišovické
kultury (?) z lokality Kroměříž 3 – Miňůvky, Křivky. In: Peška, J., Bém,
M. (Eds.):
Ročenka 2005
. Archeologické centrum Olomouc, příspěvková
organizace, Olomouc, 53–71.
KRÁLÍK, M., PEŠKA, J., KALÁBEK, M., URBANOVÁ, P.,
MOŘKOVSKÝ, T., JAROŠOVÁ, I., DRESLEROVÁ, G., NOVÁČEK,
J., MALÁ, P., KRÁSNÁ, S. 2006: Předběžná analýza kosterních
pozůstatků a hrobové výbavy jedince kultury lidu se šňůrovou keramikou
z lokality Olomouce-Nemilan, ulice Lidická (Nemilany 4). In: Peška,
J., Bém, M. (Eds.):
Ročenka 2005
. Archeologické centrum Olomouc,
Olomouc, 108–145.
PEŠKA, J. 2009:
Protoúnětické pohřebiště z Pavlova
. Archeologické
centrum Olomouc, Olomouc.
PEŠKA, J., PLAČEK, M. 2002:
Dědictví věků: nemovité archeologické
památky Přerovska
. Archeologické centrum Vlastivědného muzea,
Olomouc.
PEŠKA, J., BERKOVEC, T., HLOŽEK, M., KRUPA, P., TROJEK, T.,
DROZDOVÁ, E., KOLDÍNSKÁ, Z., KRÁLÍK, M., SELUCKÁ, A.
2005: Dosavadní výsledky mezioborové spolupráce na nálezech ze starší
doby bronzové v Hulíně – U Isidorka. In: Peška, J., Bém, M. (Eds.):
Ročenka 2004
. Archeologické centrum Olomouc, Olomouc, 68–93.
PEŠKA, J., HLOŽEK, M., KRÁLÍK, M., SELUCKÁ, A., RICHTROVÁ,
A., PELÍŠKOVÁ, R. 2005a: Konzervace a materiálový průzkum
kovových nálezů ze starší doby bronzové z Hulína – U Isidorka. In:
Sborník z konference konzervátorů a restaurátorů, Plzeň 2005
. Technické
muzeum v Brně, Brno, 49–57.
PEŠKA, J., KRÁLÍK, M., SELUCKÁ, A. 2006: Rezidua a otisky
organických látek v korozních produktech mědi a jejích slitin. Pilotní
studie. Industrie starší doby bronzové.
Památky archeologické
97, 5–46.
PEŠKA, J., KRÁLÍK, M. 2013: “Nagyrév Jugs” and Their Archaeological
Context. In: Heyd, V., Kulcsár, G., Szeverényi, V. (Eds.):
transition to
the bronze Age – interregional interaction and socio-Cultural Change
in the third Millenium bC Carpathian basin and neighbouring Regions
.
Archaeolingua Alapítvány, Budapest, 245–286.
ŠAFR, P. (Ed.) 2004:
Popelnicová pole a doba halštatská: příspěvky
z VIII. konference, České Budějovice 22.–24. 9. 2004
. Jihočeské muzeum,
České Budějovice.
ŠÍN, L., VRÁNA, J. 2014: Charakter pohřebního ritu jako odraz událostí
19. století na střední Moravě.
Český lid
101/2: 149–169.
ŠMEJDA, L. 2014: The Partnership in Research and Presentation of
Archaeological Heritage.
interdisciplinaria Archaeologica. natural
sciences in Archaeology
V/2/2014, 163–170.
ŠUTEKOVÁ, J., PAVÚK P., KALÁBKOVÁ P., KOVÁR B. 2010: P
anta
rhei: studies on the chronology and cultural development of South-
eastern and Central europe in earlier prehistory prehistory presented to
Juraj Pavúk on the Occasion of his 75
th
birthday
. Comenius University in
Bratislava. Studia archaeologica et Mediaevalia, Bratislava.
URBANOVÁ, P., PEŠKA, J., KALÁBEK, M., KRÁLÍK, M.,
MOŘKOVSKÝ, T., JAROŠOVÁ, I., HLOŽEK, M., DRESLEROVÁ,
G., VAŇHAROVÁ, M., NOVÁČEK, J., KRÁSNÁ, S., MALÁ, P.
2007: Anthropological and archeological analysis of unique Eneolithic
grave from Olomouc – Nemilany site, Czech Republic.
Humanbiologia
budapestinensis
30, 37–44.