Joint events – Archaeology, Authority & Community

The closing conference of the project “Archaeology, Authority and Community: cooperation to protect archaeological heritage”

mihhail.vasiljev — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 12:45:59 +0000

The closing conference “The results of the project: “Archaeology, Authority and Community: cooperation to protect archaeological heritage” and prospects for the development of this cooperation” will be held in Pskov on December 1-3, 2014. г.

The sessions of the project’s conference will be held on December 1, 2014 in the conference hall of “Dvor Podznoyeva” hotel, located in Nekrasova Street 3В and on December 2-3, 2014 in the conference room of the Archaeological Center of the Pskov Region, in Gertsena Street 1/1.

The closing conference is dedicated to the results of the implementation of the project, which was started on May 1, 2012 and will be completed on December 31, 2014. The project focuses on the preservation of archaeological heritage in the cross-border region, on developing cross-border cooperation in this field and on raising awareness of people about archaeological heritage.

“The project: “Archaeology, Authority and Community: cooperation to protect archaeological heritage” unites under the supervision of The University of Tartu (Estonia) nine partner organizations from three countries: Estonia – National Heritage Board; (Non-Profit Association) Archaeological Centre; Latvia – Institute of Latvian History; Ludza Municipality; Alūksne Municipality; Russia – The Archaeological Centre of the Pskov Region; The Independent non-profit organization “Pskov Archaeological Centre”; Pskov State Historical-Architectural and Fine Arts Museum-Reserve.

Three more associated organizations are involved in the project on the Russian side: State Committee of the Pskov Region on the Preservation of Objects of Cultural Heritage, Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Gdov Local Lore Museum.

Final reports on the project’s results in Estonia, Latvia and Russia will be made on the first conference day. On this day a press-conference will be held and an exhibition-presentation of materials which visualize the project will be organized. It will also be announced about the beginning of the work of “Cross-border Archaeological Heritage Protection Network”.

On the second conference day reports will be made, dedicated to the main activities of the project: the results of the rescue excavations and archaeological field inventories of border areas of Estonia, Latvia and Russia; the results of the evaluation of the condition of archaeological collections and a lot more.

The third conference day will be dedicated to planning the main events in the framework of Cross-border Archaeological Heritage Protection Network activities and to the questions of regulatory support in the sphere of archaeological heritage preservation.

At the end of the conference excursions for the project partners from Estonia and Latvia will be orginized.

Download the conference programme

Archaeological inspection in Russia

anu — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 07:05:24 +0000

18th-20th October, partners from Tartu and Pskov visited archaeological sites in Ingria and in the vicinity of the middle part of river Pljussa. During the inspection, participants shared their experience and their understanding of archaeological sites. As the areas were inhabited by people whose successors have lived in the borderlands of both, Estonia and Russia, the inspections turned out to be very informative and profitable for all of the participants.

First, graves and old seaside cliff in Ingria were visited. Later, there was a possibility to visit the archaeologists’ house-camp, familiarise with the fieldwork pictures, mmonument layers and finds. Also, an excavation pit on an interesting stone grave had been left opened for the guests to see, but was backfilled shortly after.

Archaeologists had an educating tea break in the Gdov Museum and had a chance to see some of the rare items that were presented and discussed during the student seminar in Tartu.

The last two days flew by while inspecting archaeological sites in the middle part of river Pljussa with the help of mr S. Popov from St. Petersburg. Several barrow cemeteries were visited as well as some graves with above ground stone constructions, hill-forts and settlement sites. Unfortunately, one of the barrow sites had been disturbed and some of the burial constructions had been vandalised.

Anu Kivirüüt

University of Tartu

Archaeological inspection on medieval road ”Pskov-Izborsk-Aluksne”

anu — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 15:59:02 +0000

From 16th to 19th September 2013 in the framework of the project ”Archaeology, Authority & Community: cooperation to protect archaeological heritage” archaeological inspection took place on the old medieval Pskov-Izborsk-Aluksne road. The trajectory included archaeological monuments both in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Latvia. There were participants from most of the project partners (PP 1,3, 4,5, 7,8).

September 16, places near Pskov, the estuary of river Velikaya and stronghold of Vybuty were visited.

On September 17, the inspection on the historical road begun at the place of old floating bridge at the beginning of the Izborsk street and continued through medieval administration centres and cemeteries – Kamno, Korly, Pechki, Senno. More than 10 sites from the second half of 1st millennium to 16th-17th centuries were seen. In the area of Malaya Listovka, the participants documented the vandalisation of a zhalnik-type grave. From the edge of an old quarry, it could be seen how the round zhalnik was formed by large granite boulders and the interior of the grave was covered with limestone slabs. The route ended in Old Izborsk.

On September 18, the field trip continued on the old historical road from Izborsk to Panikovichi and Schemeritski churchyard. In the area of Andreikovo, the participants found traces on vandalisation on another zhalnik-type grave, probably already about 15 years ago.

On September 19, the inspection continued in Latvia, in Aluksne Region. Altogether, during the four days, the archaeologists visited about 40 sites. The travelled medieval route will be the basis of a future tourist route on the medieval road from Pskov to the Baltics.

Estonian-Russian archaeology seminar

anu — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 13:51:38 +0000

10th – 12th October 2013, a student seminar on archaeology took place in Tartu. There were performers from Pskov, Gdov, Velikie Luki, , Sankt-Peterburg and Tartu. All of the students presented their current research topics and newest results. All in all, there were 19 different performances and short discussions. During the seminar, the students had the possibility to get to know others’ research topics, ask questions and commingle.

The three-day official event was closed with a round table to discuss further co-operation between Estonian and Russian students. Noting the success of previous student seminars, it was decided to have one more seminar in autumn 2014. Also, in order to share field-work experience and technical knowledge, emerged a plan to organise a field seminar. The week-long seminar is planned to take place in summer 2014, but details about the event are still open.

The seminar in Tartu included two field trips: one to archaeological places near Otepää and other to some hill-forts and graves in Võrumaa.

Anu Kivirüüt

University of Tartu

Archaeological and ethnological fieldworks in Setomaa in 1937 and 1938

anu — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 10:33:44 +0000

On October 4 an international conference, dedicated to the results of archaeological and ethnological field works organized by the Museum of Man (Paris) in Setomaa, south-eastern Estonia in 1937 and 1938, took place in Värska (Setomaa). The fieldworks were initiated by the famous Russian emigrant writer, Leonid Zurov, and accompanied by Boris Vilde, the organizer of the Resistance movement in France during World War II. During these expeditions ca. 260 archaeological monuments were recorded and information about them, as well as numerous archaeological finds were delivered to the University of Tartu. The output of the fieldworks is also seen in 442 photos and 379 ethnological artefacts that reached the collections of the Museum of Man. The most important documents of the fieldwork materials are two reports written by Zurov: a general survey (78 pages) and a report about the cult of stones, trees and springs in Setomaa (50 pages). These materials have not been available for the Estonian, Russian and Seto communities until recently.

The archaeological information collected by Zurov is extremely valuable source material and has been repeatedly used for finding archaeological monuments to present them to be protected by the state – both in the Estonian and Russian part of Setomaa.

During the conference, 15 papers concerning the results of the fieldworks of the 1930s were presented by Estonian, Russian and French speakers. The conference, greatly supported by the project “Archaeology, Authority and Community” took place in the framework of an international project launched by the National Natural History Museum (France) and established in cooperation with the University of Tartu, the Russian Museum of Ethnography and the Seto Institute. The aim of the project is to publish materials of the expedition. Three identical books of ca. 500 pages in Estonian, Russian and French are expected to be published in 2015. The books will contain, in addition to the published source materials, commenting articles from present-day researchers. The aim of the Värska conference was to prepare articles that will later be printed in the project output volume. On October 5th, meeting of the authors and editors took place: practical and organizational questions concerning the publication were discussed.

The meeting was organised in Setomaa – the area of Zurov’s and Vilde’s fieldworks – with the aim to popularise archaeology among the Seto community and give feedback of the field works of 1937 and 1938. The conference, held in Värska Culture Centre, was attended by 54 participants from Tartu, St Petersburg and the Seto community, including the representatives of the community authorities and the museums of Setomaa. The conference was organised jointly by the University of Tartu and the Seto Institute. The aim of the forthcoming book is to popularise archaeology and to spread the field work results of 1937 and 1938 among the public, including the Estonain and Seto communities.

Heiki Valk

Archaeology Cabinet of the University of Tartu

Joint field inventory in Aluksne region and partners’ meeting

maria.smirnova — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 14:25:21 +0000

On the 19th of September within the framework of the international project «Archaeology, authority, community: cooperation to protect archaeological heritage» project partners from Estonia, Latvia and Russia took part in joint field inventory in Aluksne region. It was continuation of the joint field inventory of archaeological monuments in Pskov and Izborsk regions along the medieval route Pskov – Izborsk – Alūksne that started on 16th of September.

Inventories started with visiting Klementīnes, Staburovas and Fiku ancient cemeteries in Pededze parish, after that all partners visited Garjuru ancient cemetry in Jaunalūksnes parish, Spieķu cemetery in Ziemeru parish and Nametkalna and Siseņu hill forts.

Thanks to young Estonian archaeologists in one of the recent digging pits some ceramic fragments were found that give new information about chronology of the Siseņu hill fort. Experience exchange in such inventories is useful and helps to specify the character and chronology of the monuments.

In the evening partners met in Aluksne museum to discuss progress of the project and to specify the time plan of the project for remaining project period. Each partner reported about activities that are left to do and told the time of their planed implementation.

On the 20th of September a small-scale press conference with local press participation took place.

Partners gave an account of activities that they already have done in seventeen months. They also shared positive experiences that were gained during cooperation, like finding monuments that were in archive documents but not located in the landscape. Presentations were illustrated with photos were taken during joint field inventories, excavations and information events for local people.

The archaeology database was presented by Kaarel Sikk. The visualisation in different maps of the data from Excel files is prepared and there are possibilities to find information about the monuments by selecting period or monument type. At this moment access to the data base is limited only to the project partners but after all data will be collected it will be available also for researchers and specialists of local municipalities.

After presentations journalists had time to ask questions and partners return to the discussion about issues linked with the project implementation.

Project is carried out with the financial aid of “Estonia-Latvia-Russia cross border cooperation Programme within European Neighborhood and Partnership instrument 2007-2013”

27.09.2013.

Inese ZĪMELE-JAUNIŅA
Alūksnes novada pašvaldības
Projektu vadītāja
inese.zimele@aluksne.lv

The first Estonian-Russian student seminar

heiki.valk — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 19:19:11 +0000

The first Estonian-Russian student seminar, organized in the frameworks of the AAC project by Pskov Archaeological Center, took place in Pskov on October 4-6, 2012. The programme of the event with participants from the universities of Tartu, Pskov, St. Petersburg and Tallinn included 17 papers: seven from Russia and ten from Estonia. The students’ and young researchers’ presentations concerned their current research topics. The aims of the project and results of the seminar were introduced to the media during the press-conference that followed the meeting.

On the third day archaeologist Boris Harlashov showed to the guests archaeological monuments of Pskov region. The excursion visited the archaeological complex of Vybuty, long and round barrows, zhalnik graves, medieval stone crosses, Borohnovo hill fort and the archaeological complex and museum of Staryi Izborsk. The next seminar will take place in a year in Estonia.

Presenters & Presentations of the Pskov Seminar:

Regional & Landscape archaeology

Борис Харлашов: Археологические памятники в приграничной зоне России, Эстонии и Латвии (росиийская территория). Типология и хронология.

Krista Karro: Iron Age cultural landscape in Kodavere parish (on the Western coast of Lake Peipsi)

Д. Мурзенков, И. Федоров: Recent archaeological research in the western part of the plateau Izhora (2010-2011).

Д. Донцова: Результаты археологической экскурсии в нижнем течении р.Великой

Material culture & its meanings

Jekaterina Schogoleva: Бердыши с археологическим контекстом в фондах Эстонских музеев.

Антон Романовский: Стеклянные бусы по материалам древнерусских могильников Пскова

Ragnar Saage: The medieval smithy site of Käku (Island of Saaremaa) – foreign contacts and good craftsmanship

Keiti Randoja: Children’s possible social age groups by the example of Late Iron Age cemeteries of Kukruse and Pada (Eastern Estonia)

А. Хлюстова: Женский убор жальничных и грунтовых могильников Восточного Причудья: попытка сравнения.

Tuuli Kurisoo: The Meaning of Cross-Shaped Pendants of Inhumation Burials in the Late Iron Age in Estonia

Maarja Olli: Ornaments and Ornamentation during Roman Iron Age in Estonia: Symbols and their Meanings

Methods & Interpretations

В. Богданова: Использование компьютерных методов обработки массовых категорий находок (на примере селища у д.Залахтовье)

Maria Smirnova: The use of some basic concepts of The Tartu-Moscow School of Semiotics in interpretations of Archaeological material

Kristo Siig: A game of “King of the Hill”? About the various explanations to the abandoning of hill forts and building new ones in 11th century Estonia

Anti Lillak: Hill forts as the places of memory: The example of South-Eastern Estonia

Pikne Kama: Archaeology and Estonian runic songs about burials

First Estonian-Russian joint field inventory on September 24-26

heiki.valk — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:54:33 +0000

On September 24-26 the first Estonian-Russian joint field inventory of archaeological sites took place in south-eastern Estonia. The Estonian partners were represented by the University of Tartu and the National Heritage Board, the Russian partners by Pskov Region Archaeological Centre and by Pskov Museum.

Archaeological monuments were visited on the territories of Orava, Meremäe, Karula and Värska communities. The guests were introduced with the methodology of field inventories, carried out in Estonia in the frameworks of the AAC-project. The row of numerous and different barrow cemeteries on the northern side of Piusa river was characterized by the guests as rare for the whole area of the culture of long and round barrows, the core areas of which are located in the historical Pskov Land. It was suggested to involve this area in one of the tourist routes elaborated within the frameworks of the project.

On the way to Karula parish the team visited the reconstructed Viking Age house at the hill fort of Rõuge and the famous Virunuka stone graves from the Roman Iron Age. This monument type is most rare in the territory of Russia, there are recent finds only from the western part of the Izhorian plateau. In Karula parish different sites characteristic for this hummocky area were visited. In Kaika village at Tabinamägi the field inventory concern textile-impressed and early wheel-thrown pottery was gathered.

The last day of the field works was concentrated upon visiting historical fishermens’ villages, mentioned in the 16th century written sources as issads – on the western coast of Lake Pskov. In all 12 historical village sites, located in or at the centers of modern villages, were visited. From the cultural layers of the Late Iron Age and Medieval settlements pottery fragments were gathered for the archaeological collections.