Head of Research Centre for Slavonic and Medieval Archaeology, Head of the Opava Facility; Head of Research Centre for the Roman Period and the Migration Period
phone: +420 515 911 181
e-mail: kouril@arub.cz
department: Brno, Opava
Studied a degree in Prehistory and History at the Faculty of Arts at Masaryk University in Brno from 1969 to 1974, completed with a thesis. In 1978 was awarded the title PhDr. and in 1993 the title of CSc. after defending his dissertation. In 2001 he became an associate professor.
He began his professional career in the History Museum in Slavkov u Brna (1975-1979), then worked for the Institute of Archaeology of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Brno, Opava branch (1979-1993); since 1993 he has worked for the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Brno, where he held the post of Deputy Director (1993-1998) and subsequently as Director. He was also involved in the establishment of the Department of Mediaeval Archaeology at the Silesian University in Opava, where he still lectures. He is a member of the Board of Archaeology Doctoral Studies at Masaryk University in Brno and the Silesian University in Opava and tutors doctoral students at both these universities; he is regularly invited to defences of Master's, doctoral and habilitation theses.
He specialises in Slavic and mediaeval archaeology, particularly fortified settlements, cemeteries, the cores of mediaeval towns and material culture in general; this is also reflected in his field work (dozens of small and larger probe and rescue surveys; for a long time has headed, for example, systematic research at the hillfort in Chotěbuz- Podobora). Now, as the head of the Centre for Slavic and Mediaeval Archaeology, he explores a range of issues associated particularly with Great Moravia and the post-Great Moravian period in the Central European and European context.
He is in charge of the research plan of the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Brno entitled "Prehistorical and Early Historical Development in Central Europe from the Viewpoint of the Latest Results of Archaeological Research in Moravia and Silesia" and coordinates the international project Moravia Magna under the patronage of UISPP in Brussels (since 2011). He actively participates in a number of other international research assignments (France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia), and is currently guarantor for the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic project entitled "Great Moravia and 1150 Years of Christianity in the Heart of Europe" (2012-2015).
He is the author and co-author of around 240 monographs, studies, articles, reports and reviews published not only in the Czech Republic, but also abroad (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Russia).
He is a member of the editorial boards of a number of prestigious archaeological (Slovenská archeológia, Przeglad Archeologiczny, Ślaskie Sprawozdania Archeologizcne) and local history magazines (Těšínsko, Časopis Slezského zemského muzea – Magazine of the Silesian Museum), is the co-editor of the periodical Archaeologia historica, a series of anthologies and collections of monographs, and is also the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Přehled výzkumů magazine. He is involved on scientific councils and boards of various institutions (Silesian University in Opava, Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava, Centre for Medieval Studies, Prague, Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in Prague, Museum of Cieszyn Silesia), is a member of the Czech Archaeological Committee, and a corresponding member of the Archaeological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Nitra. He has been awarded commemorative medals by the Silesian University in Opava, the Museum of Cieszyn Silesia in Český Těšín and the Archaeological Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Nitra.
