Update:June 3rd 2020
You can submit the conference application until June 30th 2020

Update: June 3rd 2020
Dear colleagues and friends,

although the coronavirus situation in Europe has not looked optimistic in the past few weeks, the recent development in our countries led us to bring you some great news. One of them is the question of organising the conference “Problems of the Neolithic and Eneolithic”. The government restrictions are getting looser (opening the borders with Slovakia and Austria) thanks to the current epidemiologic situation and a minimal number of new cases. Therefore we decided that the conference will be held on the original date September 9-11th 2020.

At the same time, due to the unprecedented situation, we are extending the deadline for sending the conference application and paying the conference fee until June 30th 2020.

We are proud to announce a keynote speaker at this year’s conference, Attila Kreiter (Hungarian National Museum), who will deliver a lecture “Understanding the Neolithic through ceramic analysis”.

We are looking forward to seeing you, and we wish you good health. Your organisers

Dear colleagues and friends, we hope you are all right and that the government recommendations connected with the pandemic of the COVID-19 disease did not cause you any troubles in your family and work life.

The current situation is unprecedented in modern history, and we all have to deal with restrictions on the national and global level. In this context, the health and the slowing down the spread of the virus is paramount. At the moment, it is impossible to say for how long the limitations will last, especially the travel ban and the closing of borders. This uncertainty also relates to the organization of the 39th conference “Problems of the Neolithic and Eneolithic”, which is scheduled for September 9th-11th 2020.

We want to assure you that we are closely monitoring the development of COVID-19 pandemic, and we have prepared several crisis scenarios. We have five months till the conference. It gives us some time to assess the current state and make an informed decision. We will keep you informed of all essential issues via email and on the conference website as well.

We wish you good health.

The Department of Archaeology and Museology of the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, the Moravian Museum, and the Museum of the Brno Region cordially invite you to the 39th annual meeting held in Brno, dedicated to tackling the current issues of the Neolithic and Eneolithic. Two aspects strengthened our motivation to organise the symposium at this location. First, we want to refer to the first seminars that were held in Těšetice-Kyjovice (long-term excavation of the Department of Archaeology and Museology) and link past with present. The second aspect results from the advantageous geographical position of Brno, thanks to which is this Moravian metropolis easily accessible from all directions. The favourable location of this place, but especially of South Moravia, has predetermined it to be on a crossroads of cultural contacts and impulses. After all, this reflects the rich cultural heritage of the region.

Host institutions are established organisations with a long tradition in scientific research, education and protection of cultural heritage. Researchers, such as I. L. Červinka, K. Absolon, E. Šimek and V. Podborský, made a significant contribution to the history of research not only in Moravian archaeology but in the wider Central European area.

The topics of the symposium were carefully considered. They follow a long research tradition in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. At the same time, they reflect new research needs and directions - multidisciplinarity, theory and method. The conference will also include a student section, which will be a suitable platform for meeting the next generation with industry professionals.

The motto of this year's meeting is freedom, which is embodied in the conference logo*. The logo schematically depicts a human body applied to the wall of a vessel of the LBK from Nová Ves (dist. Brno-venkov). The human figure is in a dynamic movement - in a dance performance. The origin of the dance stems in the Paleolithic and goes hand in hand with the musical accompaniment. Dance is the typical nature of human society. It occurs in all cultures around the world and across all seasons. Above all, it is an expression of freedom, feelings, communication and strengthens social cohesion. In a figurative sense, it represents freedom of spirit and creativity. More broadly, we can understand it as academic or research freedom. In today's dynamically changing world, freedom is not self-evident. Various pitfalls and different ideologies try to endanger it or limit it, and sometimes we voluntarily give it up ourselves. Therefore, we should use the freedom to exchange scientific knowledge and ideas, thus bring the message of the conference into reality.

*The logo was designed by Tereza Vojtášková, a graphic designer.

You can submit contributions until 30^th of June 2020. While submitting your presentations/posters, please select the appropriate session. A list of sessions is available in the Program section on this website.

The person submitting the contribution is considered the main author (you can add up to 10 authors).

The organizers reserve the right to assess the content and quality of presentation/poster abstracts and to make necessary editorial works to the text. If needed, it might be moved to a more appropriate session.

From accepted abstracts, we will prepare an abstract book. Therefore, we kindly ask you to respect the deadline.

Be sure to pay and pay the conference fee after submitting your application.

All active and passive participants are kindly requested to pay the conference fee by the link provided below. It will make it easier for us to arrange, e.g. the excursion and refreshments during coffee breaks. You can pay the fee during the conference, as well, but it shall be higher.

Conference fee till 31^st of July 2020
Full: 1500,- CZK | 60,- €
Student: 1000,- CZK | 40,- €

The fee during the conference
Full: 1800,- CZK
Student: 1300,- CZK

The conference fee includes refreshments during coffee breaks, meal during social event and excursion. Delegates pay for the lunch themselves. Please indicate your interest in lunch (including special dietary requirements), and the excursion in the registration form below.

Sessions

1. Excavations and field surveys
   New sites are discovered every year, as well as the research continues on the existing ones. Their examination might be motivated by development-led activities or research interest. This session aims at a basic overview of the results of field activities at various levels - from the archaeological site to the whole micro-regions. The emphasis will be laid on the characteristics of the method, basic overview of archaeological features and artefacts, associated with their dating and setting the research results in the broader context.
   
   
2. Chronology
   Since the early days of archaeology, chronology has been the focus of researchers. Thanks to advances in chronometry and statistics, the relative dating of artefacts, contexts, or entire sites are now increasingly in the centre of scientific research. In this session, we are expecting contributions dealing with major issues of relative and absolute chronology. Emphasis will be placed on the characteristics of the current state of research and future perspective as well as on the presentation of finds and methods that significantly change the current state of knowledge.
   
   
3. Man as a social and economic being
   Man as homo sociologicus and homo economicus marks the direction of the archaeology of the 21^st century. Reconstruction of human life in the Neolithic and Eneolithic often exceeds the boundaries of a single discipline in addressing issues of social status, health, dietary composition, as well as economic relations within a community or over long distances (e.g. mining and distribution of raw materials and finished products), climate, etc. This session will be a platform for presenting case studies, multidisciplinary approaches, theories and methods focused on man and his life.
   
   
4. Theoretical and methodological approaches in the Neolithic and Eneolithic
   Research on Neolithic and Eneolithic is extremely diverse in terms of the topics and approaches studied. In this session are welcome papers solving partial issues (such as taphonomy, metallurgy, public archaeology), using computer applications or theoretical approaches. Particularly invited are contributions from natural and social sciences.
   
   
5. Student session
   The upcoming generation of archaeologists represents the future of this field. Therefore we shall approach it responsibly. The student session is a great way to communicate the results of your work to the broader scientific community. Students have the opportunity to present seminar/diploma works and get valuable feedback from the research community in a friendly and creative manner.

Presentations

For the presentation, it is reserved 15 minutes + 5 minutes for discussion. In case of a longer speech, the organizers and moderators reserve the right to terminate it. In such a limited time, please focus only on what is important. If you need more than 15 minutes to deliver your presentation (e.g. demonstration of a particular methodology, experiment), tell the organizers in advance to incorporate it into the conference program.

Use a well-readable font (e.g. Arial, Helvetica) of sufficient size and an unobtrusive colour theme in presentations.

A Windows computer with office software and a multimedia player, data projector and speakers will be available in the lecture room. Presentations can use standard formats (e.g. MS Office, LibreOffice, pdf, Prezi). If you use a unique font, let us know beforehand to install it on a computer (an action from a computer technician from the Center of Information Technologies is required). If you have special requirements for presentations (e.g. overhead projector, diapositive), please inform the organizers in time. It is also possible to connect your notebook to the data projector.

Posters

When needed, the organizers can suggest the author of the presentation present it as a poster.

Focus on a brief, easy-to-read and well-arranged representation of your research results. In case you need to use more text, you can print it on separate sheets of paper that will be freely available for the delegates to take away.

The poster should include the author's/authors' name, brief affiliation and contact details.

The recommended poster size is A1 (594x841 mm) after the ISO 216 standard.

Posters are a great way to communicate your research results. We kindly ask the author/authors to be present at their posters during the coffee breaks. It is an excellent opportunity to provide further information about your research or answer questions.

The annual meeting has three venues, which are at short walking distance from each other. Registration for the conference, scientific program and coffee breaks will be held at the Department of Archeology and Museology. The social event will take place in the Dietrichstein's Palace of the Moravian Museum. During the conference, lunch will be served at the Academic Club in the rectorate building of the university.

Transport to the main venue:

From the central railway station to the Česká stop

• by tram no. 4, direction Náměstí míru
• by tram no. 9, direction Lesná
• by tram no. 12, direction Technologický park

or from the central railway station to the Komenského náměstí stop:

• by tram no. 4, direction Náměstí míru

From the airport take a bus E76 to central railway station

• From Central bus station Zvonařka
  
  • to Poříčí stop by bus 84, direction Židenice, Stará osada
  • from Poříčí to Česká stop by tram no. 6, direction Královo pole, railway station

Connections can be found at idos.idnes.cz/en.

Public transport ticket:
2 zones, 15 min., basic ticket: 20,- CZK
2 zones, 60 min., basic ticket: 25,- CZK

It is also possible to buy a ticket via SMS (applies only to SIM cards purchased in the Czech Republic):

• BRNO20 (20,- CZK, valid for 20 minutes)
• BRNO (29,- CZK, valid for 75 minutes)
• BRNOD (99,- CZK valid for 24 hours)
• the text must be sent to 90206

Ticket via a mobile app

• IDS JMK POSEIDON.

Directions from Česká stop to building M of Department of Archaeology and Museology:

Directions from the bus station at the Grand Hotel near the central railway station:

Walk from the central railway station towards the building M of the Department of Archaeology and Museology:

Each delegate books the accommodation on his/her own. For reservations, we recommend using Booking.com.

Main organizers:

• Department of Archeology and Museology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University
• Moravian Museum
• Museum of the Brno Region

Organizing team:

• Lukáš Bedáň
• Kristýna Boučková
• Alžběta Čerevková
• David Hons
• Zuzana Kopáčová
• Kristína Lacová
• Johana Malíšková
• Jaroslav Novotný
• Filip Ševčík
• Romilda Tengeriová
• Peter Tóth

Write to us: one.brno.2020@gmail.com

Main venue:
Department of Archaeology and Museology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University
Joštova 220/13, building M (access through Komenského námestí)
662 43 Brno

Social event:
Moravian Museum
Dietrichstein’s Palace
Zelný trh 8
659 37 Brno​