The national and historical paradigm of the humanities in the first and second half of the 20th century led to the search for civilizational issues, especially at the ethnic level, and historical events such as invasions and war cataclysms.

Stephen Graham was a British journalist and traveler writing for “The Times” and “Country life” spending his early adult years in Central Asia (“Turkestan”). From the bunch of works he published before and during the Great War three are most interesting from my point of view: A Vagabond in the Caucasus (1911), , Undiscovered RussiaRead more about Photos by Stephen Graham – Kyrgyzstan before the Great War[…]

In his famous book “Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the 1980s“, Paul Johnson made some interesting reflections on colonialism and the “white man’s burden”. He argues that a simple and cheap interpretation of colonialism as a tool for vacuuming resources from underdeveloped landscapes does not reflect reality – inRead more about Some reflections on colonialism – the case of Kyrgyzstan.[…]

In the middle of the urban agglomeration, in the heart of the green oasis of the Akh-Buura River, there is an archaeological fairy tale.

There are only a few topics, which are historians of Eastern countries attracted, especially the history and deployment of tractors in agricultural practice. The electrification of the country and the industrialization of agriculture were tangible (and perhaps the only successful) projects of the monstrous socio-economic engineering of Soviet tsarism. Not surprisingly, in many post-Soviet museums,Read more about A Short History of Tractors in Kyrgyzstan[…]

I studied archeology at three Central European universities, and although the curricula differ, some traditions of German empirical research are constant: the designation of Kosinna’s Siedlungsarchaeologie as the invention of the devil and the belief in the study of material shard culture as the bearer of civilization and ethnicity. Perhaps there is no more paradoxRead more about Corners of local archeology 02. “Clearly Slavs…”[…]

One of the problems that one realizes only in the place itself (in this case, in the Kyrgyz Osh) is the absolute luxury we have at home, in a landscape where the tradition and history of local research has led to the creation of a detailed network of knowledge of material culture. In the CzechRead more about Corners of local archeology 01. To have or not to have catalogues.[…]

In November this year the Department of Archeology in Pilsen had a rare visit by colleagues from the Kyrgyz city of Osh. In addition to getting to know Czech life in Pilsen and Prague, a series of lectures on Kyrgyz archeology were held at the department: Samara Osmonova: Ethnography of Kyrgyzstan and material culture inRead more about Kyrgyz archaeologists in the Czech Republic[…]

The initial research season in 2019 was mostly about exploring the possibilities and potential of the landscape for future archaeological research.

So what does it mean to be in Asia for dummy european scientist sitting on the Danube bank so far? Dust and donkeys? Bazaars and tea? Car horns?