Scientific Research

One of the major strengths of the collaboration between ICA and the NPTC is its integrated approach to the various sorts of evidence for life in the past.   ICA-NPTC projects have consistently brought in scientific specialists from various disciplines to study the less visible contents of the archaeological record.   This work is always integrated into the broader study of context and diachronic development; as a result, we can say a great deal about aspects of ancient life that usually remain obscure.  

Our excavations in the chora and in the city rely on the knowledge and expertise of a wide range of scientific specialists.   Among these collaborators are paleobotanist Galina Pashkevich; archaeozoologists Alexei Kasparov and Oleg Zhuravliov; archaeometallurgist Chris Salter; and physical anthropologists Renata Henneberg and Denys Ponomarev. Their contributions have allowed us to understand the agricultural development of the chora across time; interpret the nature of midden deposits and the species of animals represented in the ancient diet; reconstruct the precise nature of the smithing activity in an urban residential block; and examine the demography, nutrition, and pathologies of past populations.   The fruits of such research are even richer for their integration with GIS-based recording systems, which allow us to create graphic and conceptual spatial links between the results of analyses and excavation context, individual samples, and even individual vessels.   The specialists who collaborate in our projects also promote scholarly contact across methodological and international boundaries: not only do we work with some of the finest members of the Ukrainian scientific community, but we bring to the site Russian, American, European and Australian experts, all of whom share their experience and knowledge with colleagues, excavation participants, and local researchers.