Institute of Archaeology ASCR, Prague, v.v.i. (ARÚP)#

The Institute of Archaeology ASCR, Prague, v.v.i. (Archeologický ústav AVČR, hereinafter ARÚP) is one of the “public research institutions” (v.v.i.) associated within the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (ASCR). Its main task is to carry out basic research within the field of prehistoric, medieval and modern period archaeology. There are two institutes concerned with archaeology within the ASCR, one in Prague, operating mainly in Bohemia, the other in Brno, working prevailingly in the territory of Moravia and Silesia). Although the research focus of ARUP is the Czech Republic and Central Europe, occasionally – if it is convenient for the goals of research – other parts of Europe and beyond may be targeted, too (recently, for example, Yemen, Northern Africa, Mongolia, Afghanistan).

Fig. 1: Institute of Archaeology, Prague (buildings on the right), on a photograph from 1950s. The Institute is located in the very centre of the historic city – The Prague Castle may be seen in the background. The negative has been damaged by the flood of Prague in 2002. Archive ARUP FT-11640.




The activities of ARUP employ all kinds of approaches. Within the field, ARÚP combines excavations (almost entirely rescue projects) with various types of non-destructive methods, such as aerial photography, geophysical survey and mapping through surface artefact surveys. ARÚP disposes of various types of high quality equipment both for the field and laboratory research: an aircraft, geophysical devices, labs for radiocarbon dating, DNA analysis, anthropology, archaeozoology, paleobotany, conservation and restoration of finds.

At the beginning of the 1990s, ARUP was reorganised (so was the whole ASCR) and its staff has been reduced considerably. Nevertheless, ARUP still employs about 120 people, including some 70 research specialists. The list of publications of ARUP typically includes about 10-15 books and 200-300 research papers per year. A special place among them is hold by the Archaeology of Prehistoric Bohemia (Archeologie pravěkých Čech), a survey of prehistory of Bohemia in eight volumes pub-lished in 2007-2008. This work represents a legacy of a whole generation of Czech archaeologists (the last comparable work appeared in 1978); its English translation is just being prepared for publi-cation. ARUP is also the publisher of two main academic journals in the CR (Památky archeologické and Archeologické rozhledy) and other series, such as Castrum Pragense, Castellologica Bohemica and others.

Fig. 2: The flood of Prague in August 2002. Buildings of the Institute in the centre, an entrance to the Prague Metro, fully flooded, in the right. Photo by J. Frolík.



ARUP systematically creates and operates the largest archaeological library in the CR and makes its contents available to scholars, students and general public. The library suffered during the flood of Prague in 2002 and underwent massive restructuring during the following years. Not only was the building and the library stocks rebuilt, but the library system was reorganised and its catalogues fully digitized. At the present day, the library offers more than 40,000 titles.

Large capacities of the ARUP staff are dedicated to university teaching. In cooperation with the Charles University in Prague, ARUP is accredited for doctoral programmes in archaeology and an-thropology – human genetics. The number of hours lectured by the ARUP specialists has gradually grown up to 1200-1500 per year and is distributed among most of the universities in the CR (archae-ology is currently taught at eight of them).


Fig. 3. One of the depots and study rooms of the archives of the Institute of Archaeology, Prague.


Due to its specific history (the direct predecessor of ARUP, the State Archaeological Institute, was founded in 1919 as an archaeological heritage office) ARUP keeps a specific position in archaeologi-cal heritage management. According to the Monument Act from 1987, ARUP is obligated to act as coordinator and guarantor for all archaeological field research on the territory of Bohemia. As part of this task ARUP is also obliged to build and manage a central archive of field documentation. In the course of the last two decades, the contents of the ARUP archives have been converted into the Sites and Monument Records of Bohemia and the Digital Archives of Czech Archaeology. Today, these databases include information on several tens of thousands of archaeological sites and activi-ties, as well as 70,000 of excavation reports, 200,000 photographs, 10,000 of aerial snaps and many other documents. Within a current project of ARUP, these records are being revised and changed into a complex information system The Archaeological Map of CR. The participation of ARUP in the project ARCHES is, therefore, logically resulting from these activities and the international contacts obtained in this way are considered to be of key importance for further development of ARUP in this field.

Fig. 4: A group of workers at the excavation of Zalužany, Central Bohemia, in 1959. Photo A. Rybová, Archive ARUP FT-25974.



For more information: http://en.arup.cas.cz/