Togetherness

Europe’s cultural heritage is a vast, multifaceted mosaic showing who we were, who we are and who we aspire to be. We are all responsible for this huge, precious and fragile legacy. The coronavirus pandemic revealed that unexpected events can suddenly change our way of life. In the future, other threats could well pose further challenges to our safety, health and environment as well as our social structures, values and ability to compete on the global markets. How can Europe fulfil its promise if we do not reinvent and redesign the very basis of the European project and come up with innovative and bold solutions for a better and more sustainable future together? We need a “New Heritage Deal for Europe”, a heritage-led transformation of Europe’s society, economy and environment. Prof. Dr Hermann Parzinger is an archaeologist, historian and cultural heritage expert. In 2018, he was appointed Executive President of Europa Nostra, a pan-European federation for cultural heritage that represents civil society organisations seeking to safeguard Europe’s cultural and natural heritage. Since 2013, Europa Nostra has been running among its key activities the 7 Most Endangered Programme in partnership with the European Investment Bank Institute. This is the fifteenth essay in the Big Ideas series created by the European Investment Bank

Investigación arqueológica en las estepas de Eurasia

This paper presents the activities of the 'Eurasien-Abteilung' of the German Archaeological Institute in different countries of former USSR. Many of these projects have just begun; consequently the paper does not discuss the results of these investigations, but details their scientific purposes. The investigations cover an area which extends from the Black Sea to northeastern China. The principal objects of these investigations include: the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age in the Pontic area north of the Black Sea and the Greek colonization of that area; the activities of the Scythians and the Sassanians in Transcaucasia, urbanism and metallurgy in the Bronze Age of Central Asia; and, finally, cultural developments from the Early Bronze Age to the periods of the Scythians and the Huns period in southern Siberia.Este artículo presenta las actividades de la 'Eurasien-Abteilung', del Instituto Arqueológico Alemán, en los distintos países de la ex-URSS. Como muchos de estos proyectos han empezado hace poco tiempo, no pretendemos adelantar resultados, sino planteamientos científicos. El área que abarcan se extiende desde el Mar Negro hasta el Noreste de China. Sus principales temas de investigación son: el cambio del Bronce Final a la primera Edad del Hierro en el norte del Mar Negro, la colonización griega en esta zona, las actividades de los Escitas y de los Sasánidas en Transcaucasia, el urbanismo y la metalurgia de la Edad del Bronce en Asia Central y, finalmente, el desarrollo cultural desde el Bronce Antiguo hasta la época de los Escitas y Hunos en el sur de Siberia

Foreword

The German/American Provenance Research Exchange Program (PREP; 2017–2019) was jointly initiated and organized by the Smithsonian Institution and the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Although in the past decades, research into Nazi-era looted art has been widespread and provenance research in this field has blossomed, the fate of antiquities has rarely been in the spotlight and is far less systematically studied. This volume makes a large contribution to filling this void. The real strength of this publication is, however, that it brings together so many different facets from which a bigger picture emerges. It is valuable not just for readers with an interest in antiquities but also for scholars studying the art market and its mechanisms; for researchers exploring the networks and systems by which artworks were dispersed during the Nazi era and studying the history of restitution; and for art historians interested in the history of collecting and taste

Magnetic prospection of Scythian Kurgans from Chilik, Southeastern Kazakhstan

Introduction The Scythians and the Sarmatians were nomadic horse-riding-people who populated the Eurasian steppe from south Siberia and Kazakhstan through Caucasus up to Hungary. The horses were the power basis of the Scythian peoples. As nomadic pastoralists they dominated the Pontic steppe throughout Classical Antiquity from 1000 to 400 BC. In the past it was asserted that they have left no remnants or traces of settlements, but this has now been challenged (Becker & Fassbinder, 1999; Schne..

Notes for a Political Ecology of Non-Sedentary People

The research group Political Ecology of Non-Sedentary Communities encompasses three research projects examining archaeological remains from various time periods in the Nile Delta, the foothills of the Kopet Dag and in the steppe region of western Eurasia; a fourth project in the group consists of climate and ecological modeling for Europe over the past 6000 years. The researchers in this group are investigating processes and dynamics which played out in different geographic spaces and different chronological periods between 9000 and 300 BCE. We propose a triad of three terms, Umgebung, Umwelt, and Mitwelt to serve as a conceptual basis for all of these projects, which vary greatly in terms of the chronological period, location and the way of life of the populations under study, as well as with respect to the archaeological database. The projects can be described on the basis of evidence of multifaceted practical actions. These actions on the part of the populations under study, revealed only fragmentarily in the archaeological record, are being investigated using the research strategies presented here. The strategies have been developed from the discussion on political ecology associated with discourses in the social sciences and humanities

Research in Monumental Constructions in Antiquity

Ancient civilizations have passed down to us a vast range of monumental structures. Monumentality is a complex phenomenon that we address here as ‘XXL’. It encompasses a large range of different aspects, such as sophisticated technical and logistical skills and the vast economic resources required. This contribution takes a closer look at the special interdependence of space and knowledge represented by such XXL projects. We develop a set of objective criteria for determining whether an object qualifies as ‘XXL’, in order to permit a broadly framed study comparing manifestations of the XXL phenomenon in different cultures and describing the functional and conceptional role of the phenomenon in antiquity. Finally, we illustrate how these criteria are being applied in the study of large construction projects in ancient civilizations through six case studies

Humboldt Lab Tanzania

In den Depots des Ethnologischen Museums Berlin befinden sich bis heute zahlreiche Objekte, die von der deutschen Kolonialmacht zwischen 1885 und 1918 in Tansania erbeutet wurden. In dem Projekt „Humboldt Lab Tanzania“ setzten sich tansanische und deutsche Wissenschaftler_innen, Kurator_innen und Künstler_innen kritisch mit einer Auswahl von Objekten auseinander.Until today there are numerous objects in the storage of the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin which have been appropriated by the colonial power of former German East Africa between 1885 and 1918. The project “Humboldt Lab Tanzania” joins Tanzanian and German researchers, curators, and artists who critically discuss chosen artefacts

Déclaration sur l’approche par l’archéologie sociale du changement climatique

Manifiesto sobre Arqueología Social del Cambio Climático aprobado en la Cumbre SACC celebrada en Kiel. Aprobado y firmado el 6 de septiembre de 2021.[ES] El SACC es un grupo independiente, constituido en Kiel, de investigadores e investigadoras que trabajan sobre cambio climático. El objetivo de SACC es reunir científicos y científicas internacionales y representantes de importantes organizaciones internacionales de las áreas de arqueología, paleoecología y gestión del patrimonio para con el fin de discutir y evaluar la contribución de la investigación arqueológica y paleo-ecológica para comprender la interrelación entre el cambio social, el cultural, el ecológico y el climático. Pretendemos resaltar cómo la arqueología, a través del estudio de la conducta adaptativa en el pasado, es capaz de reforzar tanto la resiliencia socio-ecológica de nuestras sociedades, como su capacidad adaptativa ante el actual cambio climático. Además, pretendemos contribuir a la comprensión del impacto del cambio climático en los yacimientos y sitios arqueológicos y patrimoniales, así como en los paisajes culturales, los museos, las colecciones y archivos patrimoniales. SACC celebrará cumbres cada dos años y emitirá una declaración o manifiesto al término de cada una de ellas. S ACC está organizada por un comité interino presidido por las personas convocantes del SACC 1.[EN] SACC is an independent group of researchers working on climate change in the past constituted in Kiel. The aim of SACC is to bring together international scientists and representatives of important international organisations in the fields of archaeology, paleoecology and heritage management to discuss and evaluate the contribution of archaeological and paleo-ecological research to understand the link between social, cultural, ecological and climatic change; and to highlight how archaeology, through the study of past adaptive behaviour, is able to enhance socio-ecological resilience of societies as well as their adaptive capacity to current climate change; furthermore, to contribute to the understanding of the impact of climate change on archaeological and heritage sites as well as on cultural landscapes, museums, collections, and archives. SACC will hold its summit every second year with a declaration at the end of each summit. SACC is organized by a steering committee chaired by the SACC 1 organisers.[FR] Le SACC est un groupe indépendant de chercheurs travaillant sur le changement climatique dans le passé, qui s’est formé à Kiel. L’objectif du S ACC est de réunir des scientifiques internationaux et des représentants d’organisations internationales importantes dans les domaines de l’archéologie, de la paléoécologie et de la gestion du patrimoine. Il a pour objectif de discuter et d’évaluer la contribution de la recherche archéologique et paléo-écologique à la compréhension du lien entre les changements sociaux, culturels, écologiques et climatiques et de souligner comment l’archéologie, par l’étude du comportement adaptatif du passé, est capable d’améliorer la résilience socioécologique des sociétés ainsi que leur capacité d’adaptation au changement climatique actuel. En outre, il contribue à la compréhension de l’impact du changement climatique sur les sites archéologiques et patrimoniaux ainsi que sur les paysages culturels, les musées, les collections et les archives. Le SACC tiendra son conseil tous les deux ans avec une déclaration à la fin de chaque conseil. Il est organisé par un comité de pilotage présidé par les organisateurs de SACC 1.Peer reviewe