Archive: History | Archeology

The next few programmes will be dedicated to one particular discipline, archaeology, which in this country has a long and interesting history. Czech excavators have made many achievements both in this country and abroad, and thanks to the rich history of this part of Europe, there is always much for them to do.

The Czech Republic can start celebrating, writes MLADA FRONTA DNES in its leading article, alluding to last weekend's meeting of European Union foreign ministers. Like the nine other acceding countries, the Czech Republic will most probably have its own representative on the European Union Commission. And there are many prospective applicants among Czech politicians, the paper writes.

In March this year, Michal Moucka, a doctor from the town of Kutna Hora took his sons to a nearby quarry to look for fossils of small ancient sea animals. Unexpectedly, the father and sons returned home with a priceless find - the first dinosaur bone ever discovered on Czech territory. As palaeontology is Mr Moucka's hobby, he immediately contacted experts from Charles University in Prague, who confirmed that the 40-centimetre bone comes from a specimen from the family Iguanodontidae that lived around 95 million years ago. Such a find is unique

An amateur palaeontologist has uncovered the first dinosaur bone ever in the Czech Republic, found within the vicinity of a quarry in Kutna Hora. Michal Moucka, a doctor, was walking with his children when he spotted a bone in the ground that brought to mind it might be a dinosaur's, later confirmed by professionals. The bone comes from a specimen known as Inguanodontide, a herbivore that lived around 95 million years ago. It was between 2.5 to 3 metres tall and 4 to 5 metres long. Experts are speculating the specimen may have been about twenty years old when it died. Interestingly, the bone has revealed tooth markings left by a primitive shark. Palaeontologists are now hoping to research the bone fully to construct a model of the specimen that would be displayed at Prague's National Museum.

A vibrant mix of stories in today's Czech dailies, not least U.S. President Bush's visit to Great Britain - PRAVO writes that London has been transformed into a fortress. On the home front stories that dominate include: a boom in consumer retail sales, a concert protesting the rising popularity of the Communist Party, and the continuing fever for cell phones on the Czech market. But we begin first with the sensational story of a dinosaur bone find - the first ever - in the Czech Republic. As a result just about every paper features a little dinosaur

Do you know which part of Prague is slowly turning into the city's fashion quarter? How many hours of their work day do Czechs actually work -and what do they do in the meantime? And why is the Labour Minister waging a war against cyber sex? Find out more in this week's Magazine with Daniela Lazarova

Jaromir Krejci is a young Czech Egyptologist, teaching at the Institute of Egyptology of Charles University in Prague. A few years ago, shortly after his graduation, he joined excavation works conducted by Czech Egyptologists in a pyramid complex near the Egyptian city of Abusir, on the site allocated to the Czech Republic by the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities. Here Jaromir Krejci recalls one morning when the Czech team unexpectedly discovered the mummy of a nameless Ancient Egyptian queen.

In Egypt the Czech Republic is probably best known thanks to its archaeologists. Czech Egyptologists have been excavating in the country for decades and have achieved remarkable results. Now, the Czech Republic has the chance to become a synonym for quality architecture for Egyptians. Czech architect Martin Roubik was a member of the Norwegian team that designed the monumental library in Alexandria. This month, Mr Roubik and his colleagues won an award as part of a project to design the new Grand Egyptian Museum, announced by the government of