A week of Archaeology and Museums

Reconstructed kurgan

Foundations of Early Christian Apsida

Early Christian Graves in Hungary

The whole "archaeological gang"!

After another long week, here I am again with a report on another trip. As if walking 20km a day, through the Sleza Mountains wasn't enough, I enrolled in a second trip, this time "over borders". Organised by the the Institute of Archaeology and it's professors, this trip consisted of a week of archaeological sites & museums throughout Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. For the value of around 200 zloty's (50€!), the students had a bus taking us every where and accommodation included, for the whole week. Now that's an example, my department back in Porto should follow... First stop, the city of Nitra, near the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. There we went to an "archaeological experimental field" which consisted in the reconstruction of some dwelling structures from several ages. There we also had the opportunity to visit the reconstruction of a previously excavated kurgan, which amazed everyone by the quality of its realisation. Next stop a well known pre-historic site, already in Hungary, but near the border. Among the findings there, there is the occipital bone of the first "humans" in Europe, and one of the first evidences of man made (or started) fire also in Europe. After this, we headed for Budapest, where we had the chance to visit the History museum, which had a very rich, and well elaborated exhibition, comprehending some of the cultures that where present the nowadays Hungary, and also a great exhibition on the Mongols, and it's invasion of Hungarian territory, being Genghis Kan (of course!) it's main symbol. Following the capital it was time for Pecs where we had the chance to visit the main museum and later one one of the best preserved archaeological sites I've ever seen. It consisted of 4 underground levels, beneath an 18 century building, that I can't even imagine how hard it was to dig and later on "musealize"! After some "regular tourism" in the capital, and another fine in the underground (already had been fined there in February this year!), the group headed for Pecs, where we had the chance to visit the main museum and later one one of the best preserved archaeological sites I've ever seen. It consisted of 4 underground levels, beneath an 18 century building, that I can't even imagine how hard it was to dig and later on "musealize"!Next stop: Balaton. A huge lake in the middle of Hungary, where we had a break, and enjoyed the great view and nice Hostel. The Polish ran for the water, while me and Claudia had a beer, and chatted with the nice hostel owners. And this was our last stop in Hungary, after what we went for the Czech Republic, for the city of Brno. After one good night of sleep, and a funny adventure regarding our room key, we visited two more museums, the first mainly pre-history, and the second with a full range of findings of cultures present in the territory of the country until the present day. All in all, a great adventure, a nice opportunity to return to some previously visited places, but now with an "archaeological perspective". I realy wish that this kind of events would be made in my home university in Porto, but "people" always seem to busy for this. Regarding the museums and sites visited, it was great to testify that countries like Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic are investing so much money into archaeology and preservation of sites, most of them with the European Union Funds. I wonder, in 21 years of Portugal in the E.U., how much of these funds were applied to archaeology and heritage... It's great to see that somewhere else, people are doing better... I would also like to leave here a big "ZAEBYSCIE!" to all the polish friends I made in this trip! Never met any foreigners who could learn Portuguese swearing so quickly and well. Take care!