7th INTERNATIONAL POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE PeCla 2018

The 7th PeClA 2018 International Postgraduate Conference (Perspectives on Classical Archaeology) will be held at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

Thursday and Friday, 06th – 07th December 2018

PeClA 2018 is a two‐day conference in Classical Archaeology and Classics aimed at postgraduate / doctoral students traditionally offering a space for presenting research results, discussion, and an exchange of ideas, in a friendly and supportive environment. This year's theme of the conference is:

Pólemos – Bellum: Archaeology of conflict in the antiquity

Conflict and its violent manifestation – the war – were one of the biggest preoccupations not only of historians in antiquity, but also of modern academic interest. The classical research dealt primarily either with the socio-historical background or the archaeological remains of this phenomenon. However, the narrowly focused studies of the 20th century have been gradually superseded in the last decade. The research focus has shifted towards a much broader understanding of the conflict and its role within the development of ancient societies, partly as a result of the post-colonial perspective, and partly through richer textual and iconographical analysis as well as a flood of new archaeological discoveries. It encompassed not only the investigation of individual historical events and adjusted archaeological finds, such as the siege-traces in Smyrna, but also the analysis of social preconditions, economic environment or cultural and psychological implications of conflicts as well as its technological and tactical patterns.

Therefore, the primary aim of the conference will be to discuss all the possible facets of the (non)violent Conflict, from Prehistory to Late Antiquity. While the commonly used means of ancient warfare history, battlefield archaeology, iconology of violence, archaeometry, bioarchaeology or ancient PTSD-studies are welcomed, the discussion framework of the conference is constituted by the terms “conflict” and “society” and the question of their “reciprocity” in a diachronic point of view. This brings us also to the old question:

Did the conflict within and between ancient societies represent different crystallisation momentums in the antiquity?  

Conceived broadly, this theme gives young scholars the full opportunity to present and discuss their opinions and thoughts applicable to the theme. Papers from postgraduates in all stages of their research, both theoretical and practical are welcome.

Keynote lectures:

  • Prof. Dr. Harald Meller,  Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Halle (Saale), http://www.lda-lsa.de/
  • Dr. Raimon Graells i Fabregat, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz, http://web.rgzm.de/

More detailed abstracts of 500 words specifying methodology and the main results for a 20‐minute paper or a poster (portrait, paper size 70x100 cm) are expected before October 1st, 2018 by email at: PeCla.conference at ff.cuni.cz. Should you have any further enquiries, please use the same e‐mail address before the deadline. Applicants will be notified by the beginning of November.

Conference fee: EUR 20 (covers printed materials, refreshment during the conference breaks, etc.; payable during registration or by bank transfer). More info in the second circular.

Conference language: English, German, French, Italian

The organisers: Marek Verčík – Stanislava Kučová – Peter Pavúk – Jiří Musil – Josef Souček