The Institute of Archaeology and Heritage resides at the Faculty of Humanities Studies of the University of Primorska since January 2016, the research group exists much longer. The associates of the Institute of Archaeology and Heritage shaped their research journey at the University of Primorska from 2003 on, working for the Institute of Heritage of the Mediterranean Scientific Research Centre. With their departure from the operating environment of the University of Primorska, the IAH research team moved their projects and research work under the auspices of the Faculty of Humanities Studies.

Our guiding principle is to understand and explore heritage in a broader sense, aiming to transcend the boundaries between individual scientific disciplines and nation-states. We devote great attention to promoting and raising awareness about the importance of heritage as a factor of identity in everyday life.

We are a young and project-successful research group that brings together the creative potential and research approaches of various scientific disciplines. Our work focuses on research in the field of archaeology, from prehistory to the modern era; we achieve our research goals through interdisciplinary collaboration across most humanities and social sciences that deal with the heritage of the past and present. We integrate findings from archaeology, anthropology, art history, and architecture, as well as more specialized fields such as museology, conservation, archival science, and tourism.

The research of IAH collaborators is spatially connected to Slovenian territory, the broader Mediterranean region, the Balkans, and Central Europe across different historical periods. We are particularly interested in the processes that, in the past, influenced the development of cultural landscapes and shaped the present-day appearance of these spaces.

Head of the Institute for Archaeology and Heritage UP FHŠ
doc. dr. Katarina Šmid
E-mail: katarina.smid@fhs.upr.si

Vice-Head of the Institute for Archaeology and Heritage
izr. prof. dr. Martina Blečić Kavur
E-mail: martina.blecic.kavur@fhs.upr.si