 |
archaeology
is a source of information about the past; our own past, “the here and then” so to say. Who do we want to have been? And how do we “know” that? Archaeology provides us with information about |
| the daily life of the past, of ordinary people, but as well about the very high and very low class people. It is a kind of “monkey watching” and as well: “how did people live back then without electricity, without all the comforts we now have? Were they smarter because they were more inventive with the simple means they had? Or were people back then more backward because they hadn’t invented yet all those things we now ...?” |
| “Who do we want to have been” also counts for the public. We can understand each other better if we know our own backgrounds, also those of our parents and ancestors. Of course we live in the present and not in the past. We can’t relive the past at all, but we can learn from it. Often this is even fun, both for the young and old. The public is very often quite interested, because the past is something personal, something very near. And a presentation with a low threshold is in that case an excellent means to bring the past closer by. |
|
|
| ARTICLES: A FIELD TRIP TO THE UKRAINE |
| Posted 06 05 2010 by Roeland Paardekooper |
I was contacted, April 2009 by Dr Andrey Petrauskas, connected to the Institute of Archaeology of the National Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Kyiv. He had invited me and colleagues to a workshop on experimental archaeology in Korosten, Zhitomyr Region, taking place early August 2009. The website of that conference: http://experimentinarchaeology.blogspot.com. I was unable to attend, because there are many experimental happenings every year. A review is published in EuroREA 7/2010 (www.eurorea.net).
The Korosten workshop is repeated in 2010, and fits in a programme of excavations and experiments themed around medieval fortified hilltop settlements: Korosten, Novograd and Olevsk. April 2010, a conference took place at Olevsk, a good occasion to accept the invitation of Dr Petrauskas and travel to the Ukraine. Main purpose of the visit was the discussion of the plans for reconstructions at these three archaeological sites, to set it in perspective of other reconstructions elsewhere, to lobby with the mayors in those cities and on the way also to involve the Shevchenko University in Kyiv by giving some lectures to archaeology students.
| Map of Ukraine with Kyiv, Olevsk, Novograd-Volynsky and Korosten.
Click to enlarge |
Olevsk: conference work and excursion
Flying to Kyiv is easy. From Dortmund for example, there is a direct flight to Kyiv Borispol where Dr Petrauskas’ wife, Mrs Petrauskene was waiting for me. Little did I know on arrival at 23:00h, that we still had to drive for 6 hours to Olevsk… The state of the roads reminded me of those in Poland back in the 1990s.
The conference in Olevsk was titled “The population of the forest area in Western Europe: system of settling, economic and culture” and was hosted by the National Academy of Sciences in the person of Oleksandr Petrovitsh Motsja and the mayor of town, Anatoli Vasilovitsh Povar who took great interest in the subject and was happy with the attention for his city and surroundings. In Summer 2010, excavations will start here at the local stronghold. A possible reconstruction of parts of the settlement could safeguard the rest of the site against robbers, create a kind of understanding with the local population, be a territory for experimentation and finally, could be a place for tourists to visit.
| ‘Kaminne Selo’, the ‘Stone Village’. Click to enlarge |
As conference excursion, we went to the ‘Kaminne Selo’, the ‘Stone Village’. This geological phenomenon gives a whole new dimension to “megaliths”. These are such large, they can hardly be used to construct tombs with. This great site is hardly open to tourists, not many signs on the road or whatsoever. In many respects, the area around Kyiv is unexplored terror for tourists, foreigners do not leave the capital and local people hardly make any day trips. |
Novograd-Volynsky
We left to Novograd-Volynsky, a city closer to Kyiv. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novohrad-Volynskyi. Here too, a stronghold was detected and plans are to reconstruct parts of it. The site is literally next to the international highway from Warsaw to Moscow and a simple exit with gas station, restaurant and archaeological open air museum could be a hit. It reminds a bit of the situation of the Archéodrome in France and the M3 museum near Polgar in Hungary. A heated discussion: what about commerce? Can’t we keep it scientific only? If anything is reconstructed, it should be themed with the stronghold time period, and not for example the 19th century. The local population is not comfortable with looking back to the 19th century and seeing the many work horses and how the land is tilled without tractors, it is understandable. The local museum director, Olena Zhovtiuk, kindly invited us to her house. She has trouble making ends meet in her museum: how to get windows, or a front door which can be locked? Climate control systems are not even mentioned. An archaeological open air museum at Novograd could be depending on her museum, a satellite museum so to say, like for example in Százhalombatta, Hungary at the Matrica Múzeum & Regeszeti Park. It is important to state, that there are many comparable situations, but the comparison is only valid in certain aspects.
We had a meeting in the city hall, which also houses the district government, one level higher. We met with the persons in charge for culture. The main questions were about where funding should come from: city? District? In my position as secretary of EXARC, I could offer access to a network of dozens of colleagues across Europe. How much would that cost, was the question. That of course depends on what is requested. Many things, the team of Dr. Petrauskas or the municipality could find out by themselves or ask focused questions. |
| Lenin statue in Korosten. Click to enlarge |
Korosten
The last visit was to Korosten, and its main industry is the mining of granite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korosten. Visiting the local museum, the rich history unfolded. Not only was the local tribe a serious contester against the Kyiv tribe, the city has had a colourful history with ups and downs, like for example being a battlefield in the Stalingrad war. Korosten is also a city which, to cut a long story short, is in the ‘voluntary evacuation zone’, as defined after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, in 2011 – 25 years ago. It is about 50 kilometres away from the power plant. Exactly on the day of our visit was the National Commemoration Day of the disaster. http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_14961410. Before the accident, Korosten counted 85,000 inhabitants. Nowadays, after a deep dip, the number has grown again to 60,000. Is it ethically correct to construct an archaeological open air museum here, as tourist attraction? I had decided to try and discuss this with my colleagues, both those in the West and those in the Ukraine. Fact is that millions of people live in an area which used to be ‘under the smoke’ of the reactor, including Kyiv. They will not move and true, many close their eyes for the possible long term effects. Drinking enough vodka will not wash away the radiation, as some people say here. If these people are not going to move, then what? Chernobyl affects their lives, but there are many other issues, often regarded as more important. The mayor of Korosten, Vladimir Moskalenko, made much time available for us and discussed in detail why an archaeological open air museum would be important in this region. Of course, they will sponsor the experimental conference again in 2010. The mayor was eager to find out about the international network where know how could be shared – money is an issue as always, especially in the 2010 financial crisis, but a first step could be to invite colleagues over to the conference here and they themselves taking part in EXARC and other conferences. |
| Saint Andrew's Church in KyivTeaching at Kyiv University. Click to enlarge |
Teaching at Kyiv University
A few days later, at the Shevchenko University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev_University I gave a paper about experimental archaeology and another about archaeological open air museums. Both were combined with a selection of video material on for example bronze casting, iron smelting, the Lejre Iron Age Village, the quest for gunpowder by the Middelaldercentret in Denmark and Bruce Bradley knapping flint. The students seemed to like the presentations, somewhat expressive in a way they were not used to. Living history is hardly known here, and experimental archaeology usually is executed under (open air) laboratory conditions. I tried to make clear that my stories were not an advertising for “light coming from the West” – on the contrary. There are many good examples of well executed experiments and reconstructions in Slavic countries as well. It is just a matter of connecting and exchanging thoughts.
We visited several museums, among others in Vyshgorod. While the national museum buildings are in good state, like temples of knowledge, the local museums are often neglected, buildings in disrepair and missing conservation equipment. At one museum we intended to visit, the door was opened by the warden, stating there was no staff there, so no visitors were allowed to see the exhibition. My feeling tells me, staff was not off to lunch, but had been fired a while ago. 
| A pottery kiln, based on a 10th century model. Click to enlarge |
One day, we spent at an archaeological camp in the forests near Khodotsivka. Excavations are ongoing her already for over a decade, students and staff camp in the forest in tents, old wagons, all equipped with electricity. The site is also used for some replicative experimentation. One of the themes one has a lot of experience with, partly based on ethnographic research, is bee farming in hollow trunks. This was already the 3rd site on this field trip through the Ukraine where I witnessed that. At the archaeological camp, for over 5 years now, a pottery kiln, based on a 10th century model is being fired regularly. Dr. Petrauskas tells, colleagues of his claimed firing 10th century pottery must have taken days, while he can do it within hours. Petrauskas cooperates in these matters with Igor Anatolijovitsh Gotun of the same archaeological institute of the National Ukrainian Academy of Science. When emptying the kiln next morning, some of the numbered test vessels were broken, clearly because the clay used contained to many lumps of chalk. |
National ethnographic open air museum
On my last day, we visited the National Ukrainian Ethnographic Open Air Museum at Pyrohiv, just outside Kyiv. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrohiv#Museum. Although you had to pay for parking, a clearly outlined parking area was missing. Also, there was no clear cash desk, around the entrance was an organised chaos and a shop where one could buy a museum guide, souvenirs or postcards was absent as well. The guide book was sold out about 5 years ago and never reprinted.
| The National Ukrainian Ethnographic Open Air Museum at Pyrohiv. Click to enlarge |
Our first stop was the blacksmith’s workshop. Apparently the building was not translocated from elsewhere in the Ukraine, but simply a modern blacksmith’s shop including the modern tools you would expect. Here we met with Boghdan, an internationally renowned blacksmith who was making last preparations for a blacksmith festival with 400 attendants to be starting in a couple of days.
There is very few museum staff, and the ones around are not recognisable with a uniform, badge or the such. There have been major budget cuts since the fall of communism. For example, there used to be a ‘construction unit’ with specialists in ancient building techniques, with both a craft and scientific background. They used to be between the best of their kind in the Soviet Union. These have been fired and if any work needs to be done, it is postponed and finally done by outsiders who are mainly trying to earn a good income and are not necessarily interested in the museum.
About 20% of all houses can be entered, but one can glance behind a rope at still lives of furniture. The only living history here are the few churches which are open where a mass is served, real or fake? Taking pictures inside the houses is almost everywhere prohibited. In one specific case, there was also a sign prohibiting women walking their high heels across the loam floor.
| Ukrainian "village of the 1970s and 1980s" at the Open Air Museum in Pyrohiv. Click to enlarge |
The museum is very large, about 300 buildings. It is unclear how many people visit this museum, but yesterday, Saturday May 1st, the museum counted 4,000 visitors. The central meadow counts most tourists, many stay here to eat, drink and play. A few small shops exist with the obligatory ‘craft’ souvenirs like cloth nobody needs. Probably most of the shops selling food, drink or stuff are privately owned and the museum sees little revenue of this. A special area in the museum is the ‘village of the 1970s and 1980s’. This refers to the Soviet times and depicted a life style of the period when most of this museum was constructed. Obviously, it is a ‘model village’ of about 35 free standing houses, all furnished, but for example no religious symbols on the wall; in present day Ukraine, you will probably find not a single house without it. This ‘modern village’ probably served as major contrast to the rest of the museum which my guides keep referring to as ‘primitive’. Several sources refer to this open air museum as having some replica buildings, besides the ones translocated. This certainly counts for the Soviet village: these houses, which are referred to as from Odessa, Kharkov or elsewhere, have never stood there, but were invented here in Kyiv. The Soviet area only has luxury freestanding houses, no shops, no church, no pub or whatsoever. It is weird to observe a past which never existed as such. |
|
|
