Institute of Archaeology of the NAS of Ukraine

Institute of Archaeology of the NAS of Ukraine
Name	Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Native name	Інститут археології Національної академії наук України
Established	1938
Type	Research institute
Location	Kyiv, Ukraine
Director	(see Organization and Leadership)
Affiliations	National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Contents

Institute of Archaeology of the NAS of Ukraine is the principal Ukrainian research center for archaeological study, conservation, and museology, associated with the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and engaged in fieldwork across regions such as Kyiv Oblast, Lviv Oblast, Crimea, Donetsk Oblast, and Kharkiv Oblast. The institute links Ukrainian archaeological practice with international projects involving institutions like the British Museum, the German Archaeological Institute, the Smithsonian Institution, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Its staff collaborate with specialists who work on topics ranging from Scythians and Sarmatians to Kievan Rus', Cumania, and Gothic and Viking studies.

History

Founded in 1938 within the framework of the Ukrainian SSR and the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the institute evolved through political and scholarly transformations including the World War II period, postwar reconstruction, the Khrushchev Thaw, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. During the Holodomor aftermath and under directives tied to the Stalinist repressions the institute's work was shaped by state policies, while scholars later engaged in debates about the origins of Trypillia culture, Tripolye, and the ethnogenesis of Eastern Slavs. In the late 20th century the institute expanded ties with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences, and European research networks focused on Neolithic and Bronze Age transitions. Post-1991 independence brought projects funded through partnerships with the European Commission, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, and bilateral programs with the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

The institute is organized into thematic departments and laboratories addressing periods and regions such as Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Medieval archaeology, and conservation, with centers for paleoecology, archaeometry, and museology. Leadership has included directors and chairs drawn from figures prominent in Ukrainian scholarship and connected to institutions like Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Odesa National University, and the National Museum of History of Ukraine. Administrative oversight links to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy (Ukraine) and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for regulatory and funding matters, while international advisory boards have included representatives from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Cambridge, the University of Warsaw, and Harvard University.

Fieldwork covers key sites such as Mezhyrich, Khortytsia, Berezan', Bilsk, Chersonesos Taurica, and settlements linked to Trypillia culture, Cimmerians, Scythians, Chernyakhiv culture, and Kievan Rus'. Multi-disciplinary projects integrate specialists from the Max Planck Society, the Russian State University for the Humanities, the Institute of Archaeology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Prehistory and Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University. Excavations employ methods developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford, Leiden University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Freiburg for dating, geophysics, and bioarchaeology, including radiocarbon analysis that references standards used by the International Radiocarbon Laboratory Network. Emergency archaeology operations have coordinated with the State Service of Ukraine for Protected Areas and heritage protection bodies during infrastructure projects, environmental assessments, and armed conflict situations related to Euromaidan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The institute publishes monographs, edited volumes, and serials that appear alongside journals such as Antiquity, Journal of Archaeological Science, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, and regional periodicals produced with partners like the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Its periodicals have featured peer-reviewed studies on topics from metallurgy and paleopathology to settlement archaeology, and contribute to international bibliographies maintained by the International Council for Archaeozoology, the European Association of Archaeologists, and the World Archaeological Congress. Staff produce syntheses used in curricula at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Lviv University, and in exhibitions at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, and their work informs nominations to the UNESCO World Heritage List and inventories held by the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

Collections include artefacts from Paleolithic assemblages, Neolithic ceramics, Bronze Age hoards, Scythian gold, medieval grave goods, and ecofacts archived in repositories collaborating with the National Historical and Cultural Reserve "Chersonesos", the State Hermitage Museum, the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography in Lviv, and the Kyiv History Museum. Laboratory facilities support archaeometric analyses with equipment and expertise linked to the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and the National Museum of Natural History (France). The institute's conservation studios and storage meet standards promoted by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and interface with digital initiatives such as projects run by the Europeana network and the Digital Archaeological Record.

The institute runs postgraduate programs and doctoral supervision in cooperation with Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, and Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, offers training for conservators working in institutions like the National Art Museum of Ukraine, and organizes conferences with bodies including the European Association of Archaeologists, the Society for American Archaeology, and the International Council on Monuments and Sites. Public outreach includes exhibitions, lectures, and collaborative projects with museums such as the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, the Museum of Local History in Chernihiv, and regional cultural centers, and contributes to heritage policy discussions with the Council of Europe and UNESCO.

Category:Archaeological research institutes Category:Scientific organisations based in Ukraine