POPULARIZATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH AS PART OF PUBLIC HISTORY IN UKRAINE AFTER 2014

Abstract

The Russian-Ukrainian war, which has been ongoing since 2014, has served as a catalyst for the development of public history. This was primarily due to the impact of Russian propaganda on Ukrainian society, as well as the numerous myths and manipulations surrounding history. It is precisely because the Russian Federation is waging war against Ukraine that Ukrainian society has become more interested in the past, and this has created a demand for explanations of historical and archaeological issues in various formats, rather than solely through academic works. Archaeological topics have taken a prominent place in public history projects in Ukraine since 2014. First and foremost, we can mention a project by Ukrainian historians called "LIKBEZ. The Historical Front", which was established in 2014 with the aim of countering Russian propaganda and explaining the history of Ukraine through popular science books, lectures and historical festivals. The non-fiction book series "History Uncensored" explores the prehistoric era and the Middle Ages in Ukraine, drawing on the latest research by Ukrainian archaeologists. We should highlight the following media outlets that specialise in history and cover archaeological research: "Historical Truth", "Local History". Ukrainian archaeologists participate in podcasts and programmes for various historical projects on YouTube, such as "History Without Myths" and productions by Wild Fox Film. Among the most active commentators in the media, it is worth mentioning Yevhen Synytsia – Associate Professor at the Department of Archaeology and Museology at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv – and Leonid Zaliznyak – Head of the Stone Age Archaeology Department at the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. We should note the following feature of archaeology in the context of public history – the factor of antiscientific hypotheses claiming that "the Black Sea was dug by the Ukrs", "Jesus Christ was from Galicia" or "the Trypillians were Ukrainians". For various reasons, such fakes and manipulations still exist in Ukraine’s information space, which is why the popularisation of archaeological research must remain one of the priorities of Ukrainian humanitarian policy.