Borders as a Cultural-historical Phenomenon. Specification, Analysis, Comparison, and Interpretation

Borders are a concept that expresses the activity of society from its beginnings, connected with various forms of landmarking. It is a spatial phenomenon, influenced by many aspects, mainly administrative, political, ideological, ethnic, religious, cultural or mental. New borders are constantly emerging, changing, disappearing and intermingling in layers. They are real or virtual, recorded with diverse accuracy in the terrain, documents and human mind. Understanding the borders in terms of their identification and clear orientation in space is difficult for the public and many experts, both domestic and foreign.

The main objective of the submitted project is to create a concept of groups of borders and border changes in the Czech lands, in the context of the Central European space from the Middle Ages to the end of the 20th century; to process basic sets of individual types of borders; to analyze, compare and interpret the acquired data; to make the research results available to the general and professional public, including the educational sphere, and to give a comprehensive picture of borders and their changes. This objective is in line with the specific objective 1.1. National and cultural identity in history and archaeology.

The project will be solved within five thematic modules:
I. Borders, their typology, symbolism and ways of expression in preserved sources;
II. Borders as a reflection of territorial governance, power ambitions and conflicts;
III. Borders as a reflection of ethnic, linguistic and culturally anthropological phenomena and processes;
IV. Borders as a reflection of historical specifics and anomalies;
V. Borders as a reflection of the diversity of opinions of contemporary society.

The main application outputs will be sets of interactive specialized maps with specialized content, an exhibition with a critical catalogue and a specialized public database, supplemented by publication outputs (monographs, professional articles and conferences).

Project website: http://borders.onmaps.cz/