High water paralyzed activities of the Institute of Archaeology in Prague, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

During the flooding of Aug. 14, 2002, which was labeled as 500-year, the buildings of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic at Prague, Letenská St. 4 were flooded up to a level of 300 cm. All of its ground-floor rooms were damaged. Because of the ongoing reconstruction of the library, it was possible to only partially evacuate these rooms.

The library with its 70,000 books was almost entirely flooded. Newly installed library equipment and furniture was destroyed.

The vast majority of the publications produced by the Institute of Archaeology over the past 15 years was completely ruined.

The unexpectedly high water reached the archives, which were only partly evacuated. The archives contained about 10,000 maps and plans, tens of thousands of terrain photos and documentation of archaeological findings gathered for more than a century. 

The laboratory and specialized-office equipment was destroyed, temporarily stored collections were flooded, technical rooms and other rooms were damaged.

Salvage and rescue work started minutes after access to the premises of the Institute of Archaeology was permitted on August 16, 2002. Many tens of people from the Institute as well as volunteers helped. Thanks to a grand and immediate offer from the Institute of Archaeological Heritage Management of Central Bohemia, which offered its offices in Kounice, about 62 m3 of books and plans were cleaned from mud during the first week after the flooding. They were then transported to Mochov Freezing-Plant. At the moment we are looking for the most effective solution for saving at least some of the books and plans. A large part of archive documentation and bibliographic records were disinfected by gas. At the moment the Institute of Archaeology Department located at the Prague Castle is finishing a water treatment of damaged negatives. Intensive rescue efforts are taking place in the buildings of the Institute at Letenská Street. The current estimated cost of the damage is about 118 million CZK. The historical and scientific value of the loss caused by the high water, whose force exceeded the most pessimistic estimates, however, cannot be estimated at all.
The catalogues, archive documentation and bibliographic records that are saved will be gradually digitized. It will be necessary to find a new place for the library and archives, where they would be safe from similar catastrophic events in the future. 

Photographs by: opening photograph taken from: Michal Sváček, Mladá fronta Dnes, September 15, 2002, other pictures by I. Benková, I. Boháčová, M. Ernée, J. Frolík, M. Gojda, J. Mařík, E. Ottenwalter, P. Sommer, M. Tomášek, N.Venclová.

Prague, October 8, 2002                                      

Editorial board www.arup.cas.cz and management of the Institute of Archaeology in Prague, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic