Tomsová, J. 2019. Kde se archeologie protíná s přírodními vědami.
Julie Tomsová2019, Sborník prací 2. studentské konference 10 let archeologie na olomoucké univerzitě
Současná archeologie již dávno není vědou čistě humanitní, nýbrž oborem stále více využívajícím metody a postupy „vypůjčené“ z exaktních oborů. Právě střetávání archeologie, antropologie a příbuzných přírodovědných oborů a cenné poznatky, které lze touto interdisciplinární spoluprácí získat, ilustrují příběhy z depozitáře Hrdličkova muzea člověka PřF UK. Dokládají rozmanitost vývoje lidských společností i jednotící prvky společné všem známým kulturám. Umožňují hlubší pochopení poznání minulosti, ale nabízí rovněž nové a poutavé prostředky, jak archeologii prezentovat a propagovat veřejnosti. Resumé: Where does archeology meets with the natural sciences? Contemporary archaeology has no longer been perceived as a purely humanistic discipline but it is crucial for researchers to take an advantage of the basic theory and assumptions of other disciplines, in particular natural sciences, in order to evaluate claims for new methods, applications and results. The crossing of archaelogy with anthropology and related disciplines together with the highly-valued pieces of knowledge that can be gained through this interdisciplinary cooperation is illustrated by the stories from the depository of the Hrdlicka Museum of Man. They demonstrate the diversity of the development of human societies and at the same time unifying elements common to all known cultures. The crossing of archaeology with the natural sciences not only allows our deeper knowledge and understanding of the past, but also offers brand new and gripping means of presenting and promoting archaeology to the public. The paper focuses on three selected stories from the rich collection of the Hrdlicka Museum of Man, part of the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, in an effort to answer the question of whether the museum’s collection can tell us something new even after 80 years? In the first illustrative example, the open-ended story of the mysterious mummified head from the defunct church of Saint Adalbert in the Old Town is presented. The second case study deals with skeletal remains of Dahomean dancer Gutta whose story has been reconstructed and revided in the museum exposition. Therafter the main attention in this contribution is paid to the Egyptological collection of the Hrdlicka Museum of Man which contains mainly anthropological material, skeletal and mummified remains of ancient Egyptians. This collection is the second largest collection of Egyptian mummies in the Czech republic right after the collection of the Naprstek Museum of Asian, African and American cultures and it incorporates also the remains of the Sennefer, Nefertiti and their supposed descendant from the tomb DM 1159 discovered in the Deir el-Medina’s Western necropolis in 1928 during the archaeological excavations held by the French Institute of Eastern Archaeology in Cairo. The interdisciplinary research of these remains provides the best example and illustrates the contribution of natural sciences to the archaeological research.
