The regular meeting of European Archaeologists (EAA) took place in Rome this year. The Czech team from southern Kyrgyzstan presented ethnoarchaeological research on the production, distribution and use of tandyrs as a traditional craft in Central Asia (session 505: Ethnographies of Makers and Making: Traditional Craft and Technology in Contemporary Societies). Read more about Tandyr research – a presentation on EAA Rome …
This stunning photograph, which perfectly characterizes Mount Sulaiman Too and its surroundings, has no known author. Read more about Unknown author and dating of Sulaiman Too photo …
At the beginning of October 2023, a lecture on predictive modeling of the Silk Road route through the Pamirs (from Osh to Kashgar) was held at the Jalalabad University (Institute of History). Read more about GIS lectures on Jalalabad university …
The end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century was in the spirit of interesting scientific cooperation between Germany and Russia (Soviet Union). Read more about Two short films about the expedition to the Pamir in 1928 …
Turkestan times Contrary to the prevailing opinion that archeology developed in Central Asia during the Soviet Empire, the first researchers (more ethnographic than archaeological) visited the eastern part of the Ferghana basin and southern Kyrgyzstan already at the end of the 19th century. At its end, the Ferghan basin became the subject of interest ofRead more about A brief history of Archaeology in Southern Kyrgyzstan[…]
The first contact between Central Europe and Kyrgyzstan (excluding ephemeral travelers) was the Interhelpo project – a communist project of enthusiasts who left Czechoslovakia in an effort to help the newly formed Soviet Union. Read more about First Czechs and Slovaks in Kyrgyzstan – Interhelpo project …
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. Read more about Archeology. Like any other science, it copies social discourse. …
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 – in many cases colonies were more prestigious and some colonies were even the target of large-scale infrastructure investments – such as railways in India, Congo roads, ports in Malaysia etc… Read more about Some reflections on colonialism – the case of Kyrgyzstan. …
