Nikolaj Andreevich Makarov, president of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, guides the participants through an archaeological excavation conducted in the Grand Kremlin Public Garden, Moscow. The important role of archaeology in the creation of historical narratives became clearer during this conference excursion. Photo by: Johannes Müller

Future perspectives of archaeology were discussed at the international conference “Archaeology of the 21st Century”, which took place on 26–28 June 2019 in Moscow, Russia. The ROOTS cooperation partners of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Eurasia Department of the German Archaeological Institute jointly organized this exchange of views that attracted participants from China, Russia and other regions of Europe. Although key actors from Latin America, Africa, Oceania and further Asian countries were certainly missing, intense and productive discussions took place on the future development of archaeology, especially regarding its political role in recent discourses. Johannes Müller, speaker of the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS, presented ‘Social, Environmental and Cultural Connectivities in Past Societies’ as a transdisciplinary initiative for innovative research perspectives and Claus von Carnap Bornheim, speaker of the Subcluster ROOTS of Conflict, illustrated research outlooks for the Baltic regions in connection with the world cultural heritage site of Hedeby.

Sabine Reinhold (DAI-Referent for Russian Archaeology), Johannes Müller (ROOTS speaker), Svend Hansen (Director of the DAI Eurasia department), Nikolaj Andreevich Makarov (President of the Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences) and Felipe Criado-Boado (President of the European Association of Archaeologists) happily gathered during a conference break.