Archive: History | Archeology Archeology
Historic Rakovník
For first-time visitors the world-famous Konopiště Chateau or Karlštejn
Castle are natural choices for daytrips outside of Prague but one
destination visitors might want to consider is the royal Czech town of
Rakovník, a veritable historic gem found less than 60 kilometres west of
the Czech capital. Archaeologists have found that long before it was
established as a town, the site of Rakovník and its surroundings, was
favoured by tribes as far back as the Stone Age. Finds on display at the
local TG Masaryk Museum in Rakovník show some of the oldest flint weapons
and stone tools, and the museum gradually maps the evolution of Rakovník
and its hilly and wooded surroundings down through the ages. More
Prague district yields up evidence of 5500 BC settlement
You could almost say that Prague keeps getting older. Not long ago,
archaeologists found evidence of the oldest ploughed field here, tended
five and a half thousand years ago. Now the imprints of structures have
been found in the same location, dating back even further, some 7,500
years. More
National Museum’s mystery boxes not to be subjected to CT-scan
Two massive wooden boxes, each weighing over 300 kilograms – that was
what the botanist and pharmacologist Bohuslav Jiruš left the National
Museum in his will some 100 years ago. The humungous mystery crates came
with one instruction: They should not be opened until 200 years after
Jiruš’s death –the year 2101. Now, the National Museum has published
the surprising result of its vote on whether its researchers should be
allowed to take a peak inside with computed tomography. More
Sample of mysterious silver treasure goes on display in Prague City Museum
Prague City Museum recently put on display a part of the biggest silver
treasure ever found in the country. Visitors are able to admire just a
fraction of the vast depot of nearly half a ton of silver jewelry,
tableware, goblets, coins as well as raw silver, which was hidden in a
Prague building some time after the end of WWII. The museum is now trying
to find out who hid such a huge treasure, only discovered by accident
roughly three years ago. More
Tell of Bubeneč reveals oldest evidence of ploughing in the Czech lands
The Prague district of Bubeneč, in the bend of the Vltava river, is a
quiet, mostly residential part of town, and a scene of continuous
archaeological discoveries. People have been living in the area since at
least the 5th millennium BC, when the phenomenon of agriculture began to
spread through Central Europe. Only last year the district made the
international news with the discovery of an atypical burial site from the
ancient Corded Ware culture. Now archaeologists working on the site of the
new Canadian embassy have found what appears to be the earliest use of
agricultural ploughing in the Czech lands. In this episode of Czech
History, Christian Falvey speaks with Petra Maříková Vlčková, one of
the members of the archaeological team. More
Science Journal
There’s a hole in the middle of Prague, and we want you to know what’s
in it. The early 1980s metro station at Národní třída is the scene of a
fascinating archaeological dig that we’ll be visiting in this month’s
Science Journal. More
Rožmberk family tomb discovered in south Bohemian monastery
The house of the Rožmberks was once one of Bohemia’s richest and
mightiest noble families which at times even challenged the power of the
king. The family controlled a large estate in southern Bohemia, its seat
being Český Krumlov castle. The last member of the family died 400 years
ago and was buried in a local monastery. But the location of the legendary
Rožmberk family tomb remained a mystery for centuries – until new
research into the monastery tomb produced surprising results. More
Back to the Stone Age for a day
In 1997, just eight years after the Velvet Revolution, when Czechs were
making up for lost time and looking into the future, one man - archeologist
Radomír Tichý - was busy looking back. Like the rest of his countrymen he
was now fully able to realize his dreams, but those had little to do with
mobile phones, DVDs and exotic holidays. Mr. Tichý and his colleagues at
Hradec Králové University aimed to recreate history by building an open air
museum from the early Stone Age to the late Metal Age. More
Historians make exceptional find, uncovering wreckage of WW II fighterplane
Historians in South Bohemia last Friday the 13th dug up the exceptionally
well-preserved wreckage of a German fighter jet shot down during World War
II. The Fw-190 Focke-Wulf, of which almost 20,000 were originally produced,
went down near the village of Otín. The plane was one of several targeted
by US pilots on August 24th, 1944 in what was one of the biggest air
battles over Bohemia. The German pilot, Hubert Engst, ejected in time and
would survive the war. But the aircraft itself smashed into the ground and
remained lost and forgotten until now. More
Stone Age grave none the less queer for lack of ‘Gay Caveman’
The bustling Dejvice district of Prague is not where you would expect major
encounters with prehistory. Just a few hundred metres from the transport
hub at Vítězné Náměstí though, archaeologists are sifting through the
millennia and finding ever more evidence of the fact that Prague and its
environs have always been inhabited. In the case of the dig at Terronská
Street, by the enigmatic Corded Ware culture some 5,000 years ago. My guide
to the excavation is archaeologist Kamila Remišová Věšínová. More
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