The archaeology faculty and staff of the College of DuPage and Masaryk University (Brno) invite you to join our joint excavations at this exceptional site in the southeastern corner of the Czech Republic.  Located near Breĉlav, just 1 km north of the Austrian border, 65 km southeast of Brno, and approximately 80 km northwest of Bratislava, Slovak Republic, Pohansko straddles major communication and transportation routes into Moravia and hence access to the Baltic.  This route, known in earlier times as the Amber Road, served as a main avenue of communication and trade from the classical world to Germanic and Slavic peoples of the north.

Pohansko itself is a 2 kilometer2 earthen enclosure once faced with stone (exterior) and wooden ramparts (interior).  Dating to the 9th century AD this site was a major center of  Great Moravia and appears in Carolingian, Byzantine, and Germanic references.  Saints Cyril (aka Constantine the Scholar) and Methodius are both known to have visited the site and historical records document at least 5 major military campaigns launched by the Germanic kingdoms against their Great Moravian rivals at Pohansko. 

Excavations have thus far focused on the structure of the wall and the "acropolis" where the royal or leading lineage lived alongside its stone church.  Two pagan shrines have also been identified in the enclosure dating to just after the fall of Pohansko at the end of the 9th century.  Current research focuses on a series of undisturbed, planned and regular plots within the main enclosure that may have belonged to the warrior and crafting elite of the site.  In addition to these elements a distinct craft district and approximately 400 burials have been identified within the enclosure.  Significantly, most of this site remains unexcavated and at the heart of a major research program directed by our host, Dr. Jiří Machacek of Masaryk University (Brno).

This year teams of Czech and American students will undertake a substantial sequence of excavations across the site in order to further assess the range of activities and social statuses present in this important center.  A variety of methods will be taught, including standard, western academic excavation procedures, mapping using laser levels and total stations (laser theodolites supported by onboard computers), flotation, feature excavation, field photography, and materials recording.  A possibility exists that a series of well-preserved, extended burials may also be encountered associated with domestic structures.  These will excavated and subjected to preliminary forensic analysis at the research station pending remaining excavation time and the condition of the remains.