Michal Hejcman at the 10th Science Café
05/28/2018
On 23 May 2018, the Czech Liaison Office for Research, Development and Innovation (CZELO), together with the Czech Centre Brussels and regional representations of Prague, Pilsen and South Moravia, jointly organised another Science Café. This time, the invitation for the jubilee tenth edition accepted a recognized professor in the field of environmental chemistry, agronomy and botany, Prof Michal Hejcman from the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague.
Prof Hejcman focuses on patterns of human subsistence across time and space. He conducts investigations of deserted human settlements, and has participated in various archaeological excavations. He received his first Ph.D. in the field Ecology in 2005, in the field Botany in 2010. Now he is completing his Ph.D. in the field Archaeology.
The research group of Prof Hejcman focuses on human adaptability, understood as a key overarching theme for interdisciplinary research on human survival and future development. Research focuses on analyses of anthropogenic elements that reveal places of former settlement. The team operates across the gradient from the cradle of agricultural civilization in Israel through Central Europe to the very limit of agricultural settlement in Iceland. Using phytoindicators and aerial archaeology they are able also to detect the range and type of settlement that disappeared from the maps hundreds of years ago.
Prof Hejcman also talked about his research at Tel Burna and Tel es-Safi archaeological sites in Israel. Both of these date back to the Bronze Age and the Kingdom of Judah period and are mentioned in the Bible.
The informal debate was followed by a traditional wine glasses. Photos are available below.
