Commission for Archeology of Non-European Cultures

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The Commission for Archeology of Non-European Cultures ( KAAK ) was founded in 1979 under the name Commission for General and Comparative Archeology (KAVA) as an independent research department of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI). With this establishment, an institution was created that is dedicated to archaeological research outside Europe and the Near and Middle East . The KAAK thus covers archaeological research in the regions of the world that are not taken into account by the other departments. The research focus of the department is accordingly in (Southeast) Asia , South America , Oceania and Africa . The first director of the department is currently Burkhard Vogt , Scientific Director Jörg Linstädter .

KAAK headquarters in Bonn-Bad Godesberg

History and tasks

Since the 1920s there have been requests to add departments to the DAI that are devoted to archeology outside the “classical” Mediterranean region . In the 1960s, these efforts intensified, partly because of the situation that various non-European countries expressed the goal of including archeology in cultural agreements with the Federal Republic of Germany . In 1979 this wish was finally implemented on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the DAI. The new section began its service as the Commission for General and Comparative Archeology (KAVA) with its own statutes in Bonn . Since then it has been named as a cooperation partner in many cultural agreements between the Federal Republic of Germany and other states, on the other hand it gives the various research institutions for non-European archeology in Germany a kind of center. Your scientific mission is to make archaeological contributions to the understanding of human history, which was completely different outside of Europe.

With the founding of the Eurasia Department of the German Archaeological Institute in 1995, the archeology of the steppe between the Urals and the Pacific was outsourced from the KAAK's work area, the research focus of the KAAK in Asia thus shifted to the southern part of the continent.

In 2005, after discussions about the term "General and Comparative Archeology" as a unique selling point, the KAVA was renamed the Commission for Archeology of Non-European Cultures (KAAK).

The KAAK has been housed in a villa in Bonn-Bad Godesberg since 2000, which served as the Albanian embassy until the end of the 1990s .

Directors

Library

The library's collection area includes literature on archeology and older art history from Latin America, Africa and Asia with a focus on East Asia, South and Central Asia. Another focus are writings on theoretical archeology and comparative literature . The total inventory in 2012 comprised around 57,000 volumes, most of which are accessible via the online catalog ZENON of the DAI libraries.

Publications

The KAAK has been publishing the annual journal for the archeology of non-European cultures (ZAAK) since 2005 and the series of monographs research on the archeology of non-European cultures (FAAK). These publication series replaced the previously published articles on general and comparative archeology and the research on general and comparative archeology , the colloquia on general and comparative archeology and the materials on general and comparative archeology .

Research Center Ulaanbaatar

In 2007, at the suggestion of the Mongolian Academy, a KAAK research center was opened in Ulaanbaatar , which offers scientists living and working opportunities for research stays in Mongolia. The projects of the KAAK in cooperation with Mongolian and other international partners in Mongolia include excavations in the so-called palace district of the old Mongolian capital Karakorum , the excavation of an ice surge in the Mongolian Altaj ( Olon Guuriin Gol ) in summer 2006 and since 2007 work in the old Uighur capital Harbalgas in Orkhon Valley .

Members of the Commission for Archeology of Non-European Cultures

Some of the members are appointed based on their function:

  • as President of the DAI: Friederike Fless
  • as the first director of the commission: Burkhard Vogt
  • as the second director of the commission: Jörg Linstädter
  • as representative of the Federal Foreign Office: Ronald Münch (Head of the Department of Culture and Communication at the Federal Foreign Office)

The other members are personally appointed:

literature

  • Commission for general and comparative archeology of the German Archaeological Institute (ed.): Expeditions in forgotten worlds. 25 years of archaeological research in America, Africa and Asia . Linden Soft Verlag, Aachen 2004, ISBN 3-929290-30-8 (research on general and comparative archeology, volume 10).
  • Astrid Dostert (Ed.): Between cultures and continents. 175 years of research at the German Archaeological Institute , Berlin 2004, pp. 110–119.
  • Hermann Müller-Karpe : The foundation of the commission for general and comparative archeology , In: General and comparative archeology. Contributions 2, 1980, pp. 1-28.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ ZENON catalog from KAAK