The Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (founded in 1939) is a modern workplace that currently employs more than 70 professional and scientific staff – archaeologists, but also colleagues from several collaborating natural science disciplines. For more information about the department, see www. sav.sk/Science groups/Historical sciences/Institute of Archaeology; www. archeol.sav.sk.
The Institute is an independent education centre for three (Constantine The Philosopher University in Nitra) and four-year (Comenius university, Bratislava) studies in external and internal mode in the field of archaeology in conjunction with several Slovak universities. Upon successful graduation, the doctoral student receives the title “Philosophiae doctor” (PhD.) Currently, internal doctoral students receive a tax-free scholarship of 807 € per month during the first part of study and 940 € per month after a successful dissertation examination. Doctoral students supervised by renowned supervisors have good working conditions at the institute and are usually immediately involved in research projects, which improves their communication in the research area, work mobility and material and technical equipment.
The thesis topics offered are based on the needs of contemporary archaeological research in the Central European area and can be a good start to systematic scientific work for their future researchers.
More information about study:
Constantine The Philosopher University in Nitra
Comenius university, Bratislava
1. Topic: Charakteristics of chipped stone industries in the northeastern part of the Carpathian Basin after the last glacial maximum with emphasis on the Kašov I locality
Name of the supervisor: Doc. PhDr. Ľubomíra Kaminská, DrSc.
Receiving school: Comenius university Bratislava
The aim of PhD. thesis is analyze of lithic assemblages from the late stage of the Upper Paleolithic (final phase of the Late Gravettien, Epigravettien, Epiaurignacian, Magdalenian) from excavations carried out mainly in eastern Slovakia (Kašov, Cejkov, Hrčeľ, Veľaty, Kysta etc.), in north-eastern Hungary and Transcarpathian Ukraine. The key site is Kašov I. Typological-technological analyze of assemblages is necessary as well as verify chronological-stratigraphic position using available information from the preserved research documentation of PhDr. L. Bánesz, DrSc. and supplement the existing knowledge about settlement, hunting and economic strategies of Paleolithic hunters in the background of climate change. The result of a critical comparison of the analyzed industries will create a model of occupation by individual cultural groups, their mutual influence and contacts in the period after the Last Glacial Maximum.
2. Topic: Central hillfort of the Púchov culture Liptovská Mara – Havránok. Development, function, heritage presentation.
Name of the supervisor: PhDr. Karol Pieta, DrSc.
Receiving school: Comenius university Bratislava
The topic includes the development of the use and interpretation of the importance of the dominant site of the Liptovská basin – the hill Liptovská Mara – Havránok in the protohistoric period based on the rich materials from the long-term excavations of the Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV). The hill was fortified and used as an important sacrificial place from the Middle La Téne to the beginning of the Roman period. The topic will also include a look at the reconstruction of selected archaeological objects and the use of the site for cultural tourism.
3. Topic: Early medieval hoard finds from Middle Danubian Region“
Name of the supervisor: Mgr. Zbigniew Robak, PhD.
Receiving school: Comenius university Bratislava
The topic will process and evaluate a major source from the early medieval period that encompasses several important aspects of the material and spiritual culture of the time. The research will include an analysis of the social, political and religious reasons for their deposition and the spatial and temporal aspects of this phenomenon.
4. Názov dizertačnej práce:Včasnostredoveké mohylové pohrebiská v stredodunajskom priestore
Topic:Early Medieval burial mounds in the Middle Danube region
Name of the supervisor: Mgr. Zbigniew Robak, PhD.
Receiving school: Comenius university Bratislava
General objectives: Critical elaboration of previous research of early medieval mound burials in Central Europe. Specific objectives: Complex processing of well-known archeological sites, so-called Slavic burial mound zone with division into chronological phases, regions and categories (if necessary). Regional differences. Revision of dating sites. Special emphasis on Western Slovak groups (Upper Nitra, Turiec group). Methods: Revision research of selected localities in order to obtain samples for dating (in connection with a possible VEGA / APVV project). Non-invasive survey. Use of GIS and LiDAR data.
5. Topic: Heating in castles in eastern Slovakia (Šarišská, Užská and Zemplínska Stolica) and Ukrainian Podolí in the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the modern period
Name of the supervisor: PhDr. Peter Bednár, CSc.
Receiving school: Comenius university Bratislava
Comparison of the form and development of heating devices and heating methods in castles in the neighbouring areas of medieval Hungary and the Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian Podolie region. The aim would be to collect and compare the typological development of heating devices (open hearths, fireplaces, furnaces, hypocausts ?) and to compare the art-historical development of tile stoves at selected sites in both areas, to verify the hypothesis of the manifestation of Eastern and Nordic influences on the development of heating devices in Hungary.
6. Topic: Settlement Structure of Lower Hron and Ipeľ Regions between Neolithic and Iron Age in light of human interactions with landscape
Name of the supervisor: prof. PhDr. Jozef Bátora, DrSc.
Receiving school: Constantine The Philosopher University in Nitra
During Prehistory of northern part of Carpathian Basin, Lower Hron and Ipeľ regions constituted a kind of bridge between Danubian Lowland and Tisza Basin. Both regions very much differentiate in respect of their geomorphology. Consequently, the aim of dissertation should be, beside the identification of cultural changes, settlement structure and dynamics in this area, to analyse changes arisen due to human influence on landscape and surrounding natural environment. Dissertation will require a broader interdisciplinary cooperation.
7. Topic: Militaria and battle tactics in the Urnfield Period in the north of the Carpathian Basin
Name of the supervisor: PhDr. Vladimír Mitáš, PhD.
Receiving school: Constantine The Philosopher University in Nitra
Militaria and battle tactics in the Urnfield Period in the north of the Carpathian Basin. The aim of the thesis is a detailed study of warfare of the Urnfield cultures in the north of the Carpathian Basin, i.e. mainly in Slovakia. The analysed ranges of weapons and equipment, fortified objects and an outline of combat tactics, as well as their possible similarities and differences with material of this type in the surrounding territories, have the potential to broaden the knowledge of this issue in Slovakia and Central Europe in general.
8. Topic: Germanic cremation cemetery in Očkov in the context of the development of western Slovakia in the Younger Roman period
Name of the supervisor: PhDr. Ján Rajtár, CSc.
Receiving school: Constantine The Philosopher University in Nitra
Comprehensive analysis of the cremation cemetery in Očkov (about 245 graves) considering the burial ritual, composition and dating of grave units and burial chronology. Assessment of the position of the necropolis in the context of the development of western Slovakia and neighbouring areas in the Younger Roman period.
Source base:
Research documentation, finds in the deposits of the Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Nitra and the Archaeological Museum of the Slovak National Museum in Bratislava, publications, anthropological analysis of part of the graves (about 44 graves).
9. Topic: The developmnet of the elites of the younger Roman Period mainly on the example of the princely tombs of Krakovany-Stráže
Name of the supervisor: prof. PhDr. Eduard Droberjar, PhD.
Receiving school: Constantine The Philosopher University in Nitra
The aim of the dissertatin is a comprehensive analysis of grave units form the famous locality Krakovany-Stráže and determining their position between graves and burial grounds 3rd – 4th century in southwestern Slovakia. The author will also focus on the significance of the princely tombs of Stráže in the context of other rich tombs of the Elbe Germans and will characterize the development of the Quadi elites from the Marcomanni wars to the end of Roman period.
10. Topic: Exchange and trade as a socio-economic phenomenon of the Early Historical and Early Medieval period in the western part of the Carpathian Basin. Coins and non-monetary exchange media
Name of the supervisor: PhDr. Karol Pieta, DrSc
Receiving school: Constantine The Philosopher University in Nitra
The development of trade and exchange relations in the specified area in the Early Historic and Early Medieval periods. Interpretation of the minting and use/non-use of coins and other instruments of exchange and their various functions in different periods and communities, focused on local coin production their raw material resources in Slovakia.
You can find more about the topics of the dissertations on the website of the Slovak Academy of Sciences https://www.sav.sk/?lang=sk&doc=educ-phdtopic