Archaeology and History of the Balkans in Late Antiquity (3rd-8th Centuries AD)
Officially launched on 18 June 2021, the HAEMUS International Research Network (named after the ancient designation of the Balkan mountains) brings together an international community of researchers in archaeology and history working on the Balkan Peninsula and the surrounding regions—namely the territories corresponding to the Tetrarchic dioceses of Pannonia, Moesia and Thrace—during the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods. The network is structured around ongoing archaeological excavations and research programmes across the region. Although comparable initiatives have existed in the past, especially in France (GDR 924 and 1052 of the CNRS), HAEMUS is the first network to approach the Balkans as a coherent historical space—from east to west and from north to south—through the perspective of ancient administrative boundaries, between the 3rd and 8th centuries, rather than through modern national borders. In order to better understand the transition from Roman Antiquity to the Middle Ages, the network also encourages approaches that go beyond conventional chronological and geographical frameworks.
The network facilitates the exchange of knowledge, methods and resources between its partners:
- through a mobility programme designed for students and colleagues from South-Eastern Europe, providing access to the documentary and research resources shared within the network and supporting their integration into the European Research Area;
- through the circulation of knowledge and field practices between scholars and students, encouraging interdisciplinary approaches and fostering the development of Euro- and trans-Balkan research projects;
- through the sharing of equipment and expertise in archaeology, archaeometry and digital humanities, supporting both occasional and long-term collaborations;
- through the organisation of scientific meetings within 8 thematic Work Packages, including a quinquennial international workshop and an online guest lecture series, which have led to several collaborative research initiatives and publications, notably open-access monographs in the Rome and After in Central and Eastern Europe–RomA series (Brepols Publishers), as well as the creation of the peer-reviewed open-access journal The Chronicles of Haemus.
Founded by 13 high-ranking European institutions, HAEMUS was initially supported by the University of Lille; the HALMA-UMR 8164 research centre (Univ. Lille, CNRS, MC, Inrap—now the HARTIS-UMR 9028 research centre); and the I-SITE ULNE Foundation (now the Initiative d'Excellence de l'Université de Lille) during its implementation phase. During this period, it was also supported as a structuring activity of the InclusU: The European University for Inclusiveness, and maintains a partnership in training, research and publishing with Brepols Publishers, while continuing to benefit from the support of the Hauts-de-France region.