The new agreement reaffirms the 10-year cooperation between Kiel archaeologists and the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. From left to right: Dr. Vitali Rud (Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine), Prof Dr. Vitali Otroshchenko (Head of the Department of Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine), Prof Dr. Viktor Chabai (Director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukaine), Prof Dr. Johannes Müller (CAU), Prof Dr. Mikhail Videiko (Director of the Institute of Archaeology of Borys Grinchenko University), Dr. Sasha Diachenko (Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine). Photo: Academy of Science of Ukraine 

Yesterday, Kiel archaeologist Professor Johannes Müller visited the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as spokesman of the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS and the Collaborative Research Center 1266 "Dimensions of Transformation" at Kiel University (CAU) as well as a representative of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA). There he signed a new cooperation agreement of the the Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory of the CAU with the Institute of Archaeology at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University and reaffirmed the existing cooperation with the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine that has already existed for 10 years. Müller is the first Western European archaeologist to visit Kyiv since the start of the Ukrainian war.

"Ukraine has been an important partner country for us for many years," Müller explained in Kyiv, "so I would like to send a signal, especially in the current situation. The new cooperation agreement and the continuation of the existing cooperation with two important institutions strengthen the already good cooperation and lays the foundation for further joint projects as soon as the war ends. In addition, we are adapting existing agreements to the current situation."

Hosts express gratitude for visit
Professor Viktor Chabaj, head of the Archaeological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, expressly thanked the guest from Kiel: "At present, it is not a matter of course that colleagues from abroad visit us. We are all the more pleased about this visit and the continuation of the existing cooperation agreement even in these times. Of course, we hope that soon we will be able to conduct excavations and scientific research together again in Ukraine."

Professor Mikhail Videiko, head of the Archaeological Institute at the Borys Grinchenko University in Kyiv, added: "Research only works in international cooperation. It's good to see that the Russian government's brutal war of aggression can't cut the bond between peacefully cooperating scientists."

The new cooperation agreement provides, among other things, that archaeological finds from Ukraine can continue to be safely studied and evaluated in laboratories at Kiel University. It also aims to give Ukrainian archaeologists even easier access to know-how and data, as well as to excavations outside Ukraine.

Ukraine is important for understanding the first large settlements in Europe
Ukraine occupies a special position in the study of European prehistory. Among other things, traces of large settlements dating back more than 5,500 years can be found there, which already had several thousand inhabitants at the end of the Neolithic period and had early urban structures.

The Institute for Prehistory and Protohistory at the CAU, where Johannes Müller holds the professorship for Prehistoric Archaeology, as well as the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS and the SFB 1266, are among the world's leading institutions in the study of this so-called Tripolje culture.

"The large settlements are older than the early advanced civilizations in Mesopotamia. They can be used to study very fundamental processes of human societies," Müller explained. How do early cities organize themselves? How did they react to environmental changes? How was their sustainable economy possible? Why did conflicts arise - or not? "These are precisely the topics we are working on in SFB1266 and in the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence," the prehistorian continues.

Currently however no excavations can take place in Ukraine. Therefore, Russia's attack on Ukraine in violation of international law is a catastrophe not only from a human but also from a scientific perspective, Müller emphasized, who is currently leading the excavation of a Tripolje settlement in Moldova.

On Monday morning,  Johannes Müller (center) signed a new cooperation agreement with the Archaeological Institute of the Borys Grinchenko University in Kiev. Left: The head of the institute, Mikhail Videiko; right: Olga Vyhovska, head of the Department of International Relations at Borys Grinchenko University. Photo: Borys Grinchenko University

Ukrainian archaeologists hand over soil samples from excavations to their German colleagues at the Ukrainian-Moldovan border. The new cooperation agreements make it even easier to safely analyze and store finds and samples from Ukraine in Kiel.  Photo: Johannes Müller

Currently, archaeologists of the Collaborative Research Center 1266 are excavating traces of a settlement of the Trypolje culture in Moldova. Sites in Ukraine are also of crucial importance for the study of this culture. Photo: Johannes Müller.

Links:
SFB1266
European Association of Archaeologists
News on the website of the Academy of Science of Ukraine