Dieter Kaufmann (prehistoric)

Dieter Kaufmann (born November 11, 1941 in Misdroy , Usedom-Wollin district ) is a German prehistorian .

Life

After attending secondary school in Oschersleben / Bode , Kaufmann studied from 1960 onwards at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig , majoring in Prehistory and Early History (with Friedrich Behn , Heinz Arno Knorr and E. Hoffmann) and a minor in Classical Archeology (with Robert Heidenreich and Eberhard Paul ). The graduation took place in 1964 with the diploma thesis "The Neolithic settlement on the lower Bodelauf taking into account settlement problems".

From 1964 to 1966 he worked as a research assistant at the Museum of Prehistory and Protohistory of the State Museums in Berlin in the reorganization of the archaeological finds returned by the Soviet Union in 1958. In 1966 he switched to the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale) as a research assistant , initially to work in the preservation of monuments in the Halle district. From 1971 he headed the exhibitions / tours and advertising department. In 1973 Kaufmann received his doctorate from the Philosophical Faculty of the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg with the dissertation “Economy and culture of stitch band ceramists in the Saale region”.

Since 1974 also deputy director of the Hallesches Landesmuseum, he continued to head the exhibitions / guided tours and advertising department until 1977. From July 1, 1980, charged with taking on the director's business, the Minister for Higher Education and Technical Education appointed him director of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle (Saale) with effect from January 1, 1981.

From 1974 to 1989 Kaufmann carried out excavations in the area of ​​a fortified settlement of linear ceramics near Eilsleben as part of a research project sponsored and financed by the Directorate for Research at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg . He reported on the results of this research excavation at conferences in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, the ČSSR, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the Slovak Republic. In 1988 an international conference on "Fortified Neolithic and Eeneolithic Settlements and Places in Central Europe" took place under his leadership in Elbingerode .

On behalf of the advisory board for the preservation of soil monuments at the Ministry of Higher Education and Technical Schools of the GDR , Kaufmann led a working group that drafted a legal regulation on the preservation of soil monuments in the GDR, which included the "Ordinance on the protection and preservation of the prehistoric soil antiquities" from 28. May 1954 should replace. However, in 1989 this new legal provision could no longer be passed by the People's Chamber of the GDR. He also played a decisive role in the development of the “ Monument Protection Act of the State of Saxony-Anhalt ”, which came into force on October 22, 1991.

For private reasons, he asked the Minister for Education, Science and Culture of the State of Saxony-Anhalt in April 1991 to be relieved of his duties as director of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle (Saale), an office which he held until 1992.

From July 1, 1992 until his retirement due to old age in 2006, he headed the State Museum / Exhibitions department and played a key role in the design of the Old and Middle Stone Age and Neolithic Age sections of the new permanent exhibition at the State Museum. His research areas are the early Neolithic, especially in Central Germany, the cult and religion of the oldest farmers in Central Europe, and the history of research in general. At the World Archeology Congress in Bratislava in 1991, in recognition of his research on the early Neolithic, he was elected as the only East German archaeologist in the commission "Neolithic civilizations of the Mediterranean and Europe".

Memberships

• 1980–1990 member of the advisory board for the preservation of monuments at the Ministry of Higher and Technical Schools of the GDR.
• 1981–1990 member of the Scientific Council for Archeology and Ancient History at the Academy of Sciences of the GDR .
• Since 1977 member of the district museum council at the council of the Halle (Saale) district.
• Since 1988 member of the council for urban design of the city of Halle (Saale).
• 1987–1991 member of the editorial board of the “Zeitschrift für Archäologie”.
• 1981–1990 member of the editorial board of the magazine “ Excavations and Finds ”.

Editing

• Volume 65/1982 to 75/1992 of the "Annual Journal for Central German Prehistory".
• Volume 35/1982 to 45/1992 of the "Publications of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle".
• with Friedrich Schlette : Religion and Cult in Prehistoric and Early History. Berlin 1989.
• as co-editor: “Archeology in the German Democratic Republic. Monuments and finds ”. 2 volumes. Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1989.

Honors

• 1989 Award of the title “Obermuseumsrat” by the Minister for Culture of the GDR.

literature

Kaufmann has published nearly 250 scientific papers, including with F. Schlette: Religion and Cult in Prehistory and Early History. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin ISBN 3-05-000662-5 .

Monographs

• Economy and culture of the stitch band ceramists in the Saale area. Publications of the State Museum for Prehistory in Hall 30/1976.
• (with Sylke Kaufmann) Goethe, the Thuringian-Saxon Association and the Development of Classical Studies in the Decades after 1800. Contributions to the Prehistory and Early History of Central Europe 27. Weissbach 2001.
• The Rössen culture in Central Germany. Catalog of the Rössen and Rössenzzeit finds. Altkreise Altenburg to Gotha. Publications of the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt - State Museum for Prehistory Volume 72 / I and II. Halle an der Saale 2017.