SNF SCOPES workshop at Kamyana Mohyla, Ukraine: "Responses of Vegetation and Human Society to Climatic Changes in Ukraine"

During three years, thanks to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF SCOPES) support, a joint Swiss-Ukrainian team started to investigate Holocene climate changes and the resulting vegetation and human society adaptations in Ukraine. For the first time in the history of modern Ukraine joint expeditions with active participation of Swiss experts were organized. We organize this international workshop to summarize the outcomes of our international project and disseminate the results achieved.

During the workshop, the SNF SCOPES project members will introduce the participating scholars as well as the general public to the outcomes of the SNF-SCOPES project.

Kamyana Mohyla conference location

The workshop will be held at the National historical and archaeological reserve "Stone Tomb" (Kamyana Mohyla) in the Zaporizhzhya Oblast which has been nominated for inclusion in the UNESCO world heritage list

The worldwide matchless natural and historic monument "Stone Tomb" (Kamyana Mohyla) is a collection of huge sandstone plates, forming caves and grottos, this special monument documents many thousands of years of cultural life, from the most ancient pre-farmer to medieval societies with numerous nations from Asia and Europe.

At this famous site, the Swiss-Ukrainian team excavated the multilayer site "Kamyana Mohila 1". Some findings are of paramount importance to understand the Neolithization process in Europe (shift from hunther and gatherers to sessile farmer societies). The site excavated within the SNF-SCOPES project shows a unique vertical stratigraphy, covering several ages of humanity, from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age.

The international workshop and conference participants will have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the history and exceptional stratigraphy of this amazing cultural site. The modern museum, which is located next to the new excavations, which are guided by the SNF-SCOPES members, allows visiting the import