Young Archaeologists and Anthropologists from Czechia and Poland Met at UWB

Applications of remote sensing in archaeology, analysis of medieval waste pits, and the interpretation of Greek pottery athletic iconography. These were among the current research topics on humanity and its past discussed in Pilsen by participants of the Connected by People conference.

Lectures, discussions and presentations. Dozens of students and early-career researchers from Czechia and Poland travelled to the West Bohemian metropolis for the meeting dedicated to archaeology and anthropology. The international conference Connected by People 2025 was hosted for the fourth time by the Department of Archaeology at the Faculty of Arts of the University of West Bohemia in Pisen (UWB), in cooperation with the Polish life-science-oriented university Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we Wrocławiu (UPW).

According to the organisers, the gathering of young scholars is meant above all to create space for professional dialogue, knowledge sharing, and strengthening of Czech-Polish academic ties. “Our goal was to create a friendly and inspiring environment that encourages international cooperation and the exchange of experience,” said Katarzyna Graja of UPW, a member of the international organising team. “Connected by People is not just a name but the very principle on which the event stands – it is about connecting people, topics, and approaches,” added Atilla Vatansever, the UWB conference organiser. This year’s edition, he noted, confirmed the growing interest of international participants, especially from the Archaeological Institute of the University of Wrocław and from UPW.

The conference offered a wide range of topics. Josef Hložek of UWB’s Department of Archaeology introduced audiences to the possibilities of linking castle archaeology, architectural history and digital documentation. Other Czech contributors focused on the use of geophysical methods and 3D documentation in the study of cremation burials, archaeozoological analyses of medieval waste pits, and the application of remote sensing in modern archaeology.

Young researchers from Wrocław presented, among other topics, on the anthropological analysis of burial vessels from the Late Chalcolithic in what is now Azerbaijan, the iconography of athletes on Greek pottery, and pathological changes in human bones from early modern burial sites. They also demonstrated how archaeological finds from the monastery in Trzebnica (Poland), document transformations in medieval architecture.

In the conference’s poster section, participants presented their research in the fields of prehistory, Egyptology, and medieval archaeology. Topics included grave goods from the Migration Period and the symbolism of animals in Egyptian tombs. The accompanying programme offered a tour of the UWB campus and an informal afternoon gathering.

For those who could not attend this year’s event in person, a book of abstracts will be published early next year. It will present not only the content of individual presentations but also their authors and the international research teams behind them. The publication will be available for free on the conference’s official website at www.cbp.zcu.cz.