The floods 2002 and their consequences
for the Institute of Archaeology in Prague
12th August 2002
12.8.2002
10.9.2002
13.8.2004
13th August, the day before…
13.8.2004
14th August 2002, The Flood
Culmination point: Vltava engulfing Prague from the south
14th August 2002, Culmination point
Wallenstein GardenInstitute of Archaeology
Vltava river flooded area
Malá Strana from the air
16th August 2002: the disaster
The Letenská street
16th August 2002: the disaster
The main yard
16th August 2002: the disaster
The store rooms: publications of the InstituteThe library: 70.000 of books
16th August 2002: the disaster
The photoarchives: 200.000 of negatives and slides
Archives of field documentation: 10.000 of maps and plans
Was there any flood at all?
17th August 2002 and so forth
Clearing, removing, discarding…
17th August 2002 and so forth
17th August 2002 and so forth
Washing and drying: books
17th August 2002 and so forth
Index cards
Field maps and plans
17th August 2002 and so forth
finds
laboratory equipment
17th August 2002 and so forth
The message
What is important, or: From pesimism and fatigue to optimism and solidarity
organization of spaceis important
and you should keep everything tidy
The message
You see that people are doing their best(up to 80 staff members and volunteers were workingin the Institute every day)
The message
and thanks to help of renown scholars
The message
optimism prevails
supported by enormous solidarity
How to save it?
The field base KouniceÚstav archeologické památkové péče středních Čech
How to save it?
Mochovské mrazírny, Kladno Deep frozen books: 35 tons of water
How to save it?
The journey to the Kingdom of Denmark
How to save it?
Konserveringstjenesten for museerne i Ribe og Rindkobing amter
How to save it?
Freeze-dried books at Olgod and Elmer Fabech
How to save it?
The archives included: cca 12,000 field plans, site maps and photogrammetric plans, half of which had been transferred to microfiches in 1990s
Flooded: cca 50%
Lost: cca 10%Immediately washed and disinfected: 10%Deep frozen: 30%
Microfiches saved completely!
How to save it?
Photoarchive consisted of:
180,000 negatives (incl. 20,000 on glass)20,000 of slides (incl. 10,000 on glass)Inventory booksTwo card catalogues (cca 400,000 A5 paper cards)
Flooded: more than 80% of allLost and/or seriously damaged: over 50%
How to save it?
The Department of Prague Castle Archaeology
Washing and disinfection of negatives
How to save it?
Landesamt für Archäologie des Freistaates Sachsen, Dresden
The aim of all activities: to gain time for the revitalisation of archaeological data