The project aims to promote exchange between Swiss and Belarusian archaeology. It focus on the Kryvina peat-bog, characterized by excellent wood preservation essential for accurate dendrochronological dating, in which the Swiss project side has the required expertise. This region is rich in finds from the Corded Ware Culture (CWC) and is an important source for understanding this pan-European phenomenon.
The CWC has been associated with Proto-Indo-European languages, pastoralism, individualistic-hierarchical leadership and patriarchal social structures. These features, clearly differing from previously observable patterns of Neolithic societies, provided the basis for the formation of Bronze Age elites.
One of the most controversial topics in prehistoric archaeology is the influence of migration on the cultural and social change of European societies. One key question is the origin and spread of the Corded Ware Culture and its consequences – usually traced back to the Yamnaya Complex of the Pontic-Caspian steppes – that extended rapidly over large parts of Europe during the 3rd millennium BC.
Recent paleogenetic investigations suggest that there was more than one migration associated with the formation of the CWC. However, precise localisation of its origins and the specific character of processes in local communities in connection to its emergence and spread, and the complex influences and interactions are still unclear.
The survey will be conducted by scientists and students of both institutions and will establish long-term and sustainable cooperation, provide datable material for a more precise chronological determination and set the ground for a larger grant application. It will have the character of a summer school, in which, besides the participating project partners, 12 MA and PhD students from Switzerland and Belarus will have the opportunity to exchange experiences, working methods and approaches. Courses on wetland archaeology and the current state of research in Switzerland and Belarus will extend the scope of the practical training. A workshop in Minsk will conclude the programme, contextualise the knowledge and results gained during the pilot study and provide further opportunities for scientific exchange.
This project will initialise a long-term exchange between the two countries and provide data for a follow-up research project focused on introducing dendrochronology in Belarus archaeology and the pan-European question of CWC origins.
More about the excavations in Asaviec so far can be found on the (Belarusian) homepage of the excavation campaign: http://asaviec.by.
