UDC 904(497.11)(062)(049.3)

Symposium Viminacium MMXII – a brief report –

Vasilka DIMITROVSKA HAEMUS - Center for scientific research

Skopje, Macedonia

The international symposium “Archaeological Heritage – its Role in Education, Presentation and Popularization of Science”, organized by the Archaeological institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, was held between October 5th and 8th this year at the ‘Viminacium’ archaeologi-cal park.

Location

Viminacium was the biggest and the most important military centre in the Roman province of Upper Moesia. The site is situated on the right bank of the river Mlava, near the place it joins the Danube, only 1.5 km away. Nearby are the city of Pozarevac and the villages of Drmno and Old Kostolac, which gave its name to the so-called Kostolac culture, an eneoli-thic cultural group spread throughout a huge territory in South-Eastern Eu-rope. According to historical sources, confirmed by archaeological excavati-ons, the military camp and the city were built by Celts; later, the settlement would become a home to legio VII Claudia Pia Fidelis. The Roman camp was accompanied by a civil settlement, erected around the middle of the 1st century, which existed until the beginning of the 7th century.

The first archaeological excavations were undertaken at the end of the 19th century, and the site was sporadically investigated until 1977. Then, between 1977 and 1997, due to the construction of the Kostolac power plant and the Drmno coal mine, the excavations intensified. From 2000 on-wards, the Archaeological Institute of SANU (Belgrade) began exploring and managing the site. After a few years of intense management, they succe-ed in their efforts to turn Viminacium into an archaeological park, and –

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within the project – to build a facility on the site itself, named Domus Sci-entiarum Viminacium.

Symposium Viminacium MMXII

The main venue of the symposium was the Domus Scientiarum, the scientific research center within the site, which functions as a building with multiple uses. It was built in the form of a Roman Villa Rustica and created so that scientists and researchers from around the world would be able to use it for different types of research. It can serve as a place for working with students, organizing summer schools and conferences, as well as serving all interested tourists, who would like to experience an extraordinary journey back to the times of the Roman Empire.

Fig. 1 A view of Domus Scientiarum Viminacium

Photo by the Center for New Technology at Viminacium

The scientific part of the symposium was divided into eight sessions on various topics: archeology, archeological presentation, education, herito-logy popularization, presentation and museums and workshops. Representa-tives from scientific institutions, universities and museums from Romania, Russia, Germany, Poland, Japan, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Mace-

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donia, Libya, Turkey, Ukraine, Italy, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands took part in the sessions.

The value and significance of the archaeological resources are valo-rized through education, presentation and popularization of archeology and its complementary sciences. For the benefit of the results in the field of cul-tural heritage and archeology, the researchers must find a way to share and transfer the results both to the scientific and to the numerous non-scientific audience. Finding the right balance between the experts and scholars on the one hand and the general public on the other hand are the main factors in the modern management of cultural and archaeological resources. This in-cludes a huge range of already established formats for transmitting messa-ges, starting from archaeological research, through publication of scientific papers, seminars, trainings, workshops, interactive museums, as well as use of new media. Archeology combined with new communication technologies also appears in various forms, some of which are beginning to affect even on the daily lives of people. This mainly refers to the Internet, computer ga-mes and on-line worlds. Thus the technology of the 21st century began to reconsider and challenge the true nature of archeology as a science, and it makes an even greater challenge in the field of archaeological resource ma-nagement.

At the ‘Symposium Viminacium MMXII’ the different approaches to cultural heritage from different parts of the world were displayed, prima-rily with examples from Europe and the Middle East, which allowed the participants and listeners to compare approaches and treatments of the ar-chaeological heritage. The main emphasis was still placed on the general pub-lic as the ultimate recipient which communicates with the past.

One should emphasize the excellent organization by the hosts, who succeeded in creating a memorable atmosphere for work and socializing. This primarily refers to the director of Viminacium, Miomir Korać (archaeo-logist), Snežana Golubović (archaeologist), Milica Tapavički (archaeologist), Nemanja Mrđić (archaeologist) and Jelena Andjelković Grašar (art histori-an), as well as many members of the staff at the archaeological park.

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Field trips

Within the symposium two field trips were organized: to the archaeo-logical site of Viminacium, and to the Museum of Lepenski Vir.

The Viminacium archaeological park covers an area of 480 ha. The visitors were able to see the Porta Praetoria, the Roman thermae, the am-phitheater, the royal mausoleum, as well as the site where mammoth skele-tons were discovered. All explored objects at Viminacium (with the excepti-on of the amphitheater) are covered with structures that allow protection during the excavations, but at the same time allow tourist visits throughout the year. The Royal mausoleum, with its underground tombs decorated with frescoes, offered an extraordinary experience.

Fig. 2 The new interactive museum at Lepenski Vir

Photo by Magdalena Manaskova

After the symposium, the participants had the opportunity to visit the new museum at Lepenski Vir, a world known mesolithic culture site. On the way to the museum, the participants stopped at the medieval fortress Golubac, built in the 14th century, along the former Roman limes, where the Danube River is the widest. The former digs of Lepenski Vir, undertaken in the 1960s, are dislocated from the original site due to the elevated level of the Danube after the construction of the Djerdap dam. The complex com-

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prises of the original houses, put under a huge roof construction, a small museum with originals and replicas of the pottery and stone artifacts, and a cinema.

Conclusion

It was announced that the papers presented at the ‘Symposium Vi-minacium MMXII’ will be published in the periodical ARHEOLOGIJA I PRI-

RODNE NAUKE (ARCHAEOLOGY AND NATURAL SCIENCES), published by the Center for New Technology at the Archaeological Institute, Belgrade, Serbia.

Fig. 3 The Palace of Galerius, an UNESCO world heritage site at

Felix Romuliana (Gamzigrad); photo by Julijana Ivanova