AARG 2017 Annual Conference

Pula, Croatia

13th to 15th September, 2017

The Aerial Archaeology Research Group 2017 Annual Conference will take place 13th-15th September 2017 in Pula, Croatia. The conference is organised in collaboration with Juraj Dobrila University of Pula and Archaeological Museum of Istria.

Situated near the base of the Istrian peninsula, Pula is the largest city in Istria. Its most famous attraction, the Roman amphitheatre, is one of the most famous sights in Croatia. Although the amphitheatre announces Pula's Roman origins, its history in fact stretches far beyond this period. Pula rose to prominence in the 10th century BC when it became a major settlement of the Histri tribe. In 40 BC Pula became a Roman colony and grew rapidly under Emperor Caesar Augustus and it became an important strategic and economic centre. During its history, the rulers of Istria and Pula changed, from the Byzantine Empire, the Venetian Republic, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today, Pula is Istria's administrative and economic centre, as it has been since Roman times.

Learn more about Pula and its history

Aerial View of Pula

 

Registration

Student

€50

Optional:

Conference Dinner €20
Excursion €30

Member

€80

Optional:

Conference Dinner €25
Excursion €30

Non Member

€100

Optional:

Conference Dinner €25
Excursion €30

 

Late Registration

 

Programme

Opening of the Conference

9:00 - 10:00

Registration // AGM // Opening Remarks

Session 1

10:00 - 13:00

Local Themes

Session 2

14:00 - 15:40

Aerial Archaeology of the Future

Session 3

16:25 - 18:05

Integrated Aerial Archaeology

Session 4

9:05 - 12:05

Karstic Landscape

Session 5

12:05 - 17:00

Learning to See

Session 6

17:00 - 18:00

Discussion

Closing of the Conference

18:00 - 18:15

Closing Remarks

Full-Day Field trip to the Brijuni National Park

 

Half-day Historical Tour in Pula

Complete programme (low-res pdf file) can be downloaded HERE.

 

Practical Information

Venue

The conference will be held at Circolo - the Pula Italian Community, located in the very centre of Pula, next to the ancient city walls. The building is reached through the Gate of Hercules (Porta Herculanea) from the 1st century BC, the oldest Roman monument in Pula. Completely renovated in 1999, the building houses, among others, a library, a conference room, an outdoor stage with a beautiful terrace for summer shows with live music and a café open every day from 8am to 10pm.

Porta Herculanea - Circolo

Welcome Reception

Welcome reception will be held on 12th September in the most famous monument in Pula – the Amphitheatre. Drinks, nibbles, gladiators and more will be there from 19:00 to 21:00h.

Pula Amphiteatre

Conference Dinner

Conference dinner will be held in a relaxed atmosphere on a little square with a fountain, named after Dante Alghieri.

More details will be announced in due time.

Please note that the cost of dinner is not included in the registration fee.

Full-day Field trip

Brijuni National Park

The archipelago of Brijuni is an extraordinary blend of natural, historical and cultural heritage. The mild climate and the favourable geographical conditions, deep retracted bays and easily defendable elevated fortifications, have secured a continuum in the human activity on the island from a pre-historic age until the present day. On a relatively small archipelago, of an area of around 7km2, have been registered some hundred sites and buildings of archaeological and cultural-historical value and which comprise the period from the first Neolithic settlements, the dugouts in the bay of Soline, until the creation of an elite summer and health resort at the beginning of the last century and the presidential residency visited by statesmen from one third of the world’s countries in its 25 years of existence (1954-1979).

Brijuni Archipelago
Brijuni National Park
Brijuni National Park
Brijuni National Park

Half-day Historical Tour

For those who don't have enough time to join us on Brijuni Islands, there will be a half-day historical tour in Pula, which will show you the Roman history of the town and its most important monuments. The tour will be guided by the experts from the Archaeological Museum of Istria.

The departure place and time will be announced in due time.

Please note that the cost of this tour is not included in the registration fee. Lunch is not included in the tour.

Temple of Augustus, Pula

 

Travel & Accommodation

Travel

By plane

Pula Airport (PUY) is the largest international airport in Istria and one of nine international airports in Croatia. It is located only six kilometres from the city centre, and can be easily reached by bus, organized transfer or taxi. It is well connected (especially in the summer months) with nearly all European cities by scheduled flights, but there are also many charter flights available.

We recommend that you don't use Rijeka Airport as it is situated on the island of Krk, and getting to Pula from there could be complicated and time consuming.

Further information on flights from Pula is available at Pula Airport.

By car

  • from Italy: Trieste - Koper - Pula (119km)
  • from Slovenia: Ljubljana - Koper - Pula (203km)
  • from Croatia: Zagreb - Rijeka - Učka Tunnel - Pazin - Pula (267km)

By bus

Bus Zagreb - Pula runs on a regular, daily basis; there are even a few buses a day. Travelling by bus along the route Zagreb - Pula takes about 4 - 5 hours, depending on the transporter. You can check bus timetables here.

Accommodation

Pula is a well known tourist destination, so please be sure to book your stay as soon as possible. Also, have in mind that the majority of hotels and resorts are situated on the Verudela peninsula, where most of the beaches are. If you wish to stay there, getting to conference venue in the centre of the town will take approx. 10 minutes by taxi or you can take a local bus. If you wish to stay in the centre, within the minutes’ walk of the venue, you can choose between smaller hotels or private accommodation (via Airbnb or Booking.com).

Accommodation recommended by Tourism Office Pula can be viewed here.

 

Scholarships

AARG provides a limited number of scholarships, intended to support bona fide students and young researchers who are interested in aerial archaeology and wish to attend the conference. There is no application form. Please provide the following information in an email titled Student/Young Researcher Scholarship: your interests in archaeology and aerial archaeology; place of study; the name and contact details of a supervisor or employer (email) who can provide a reference; why you would benefit from attending the conference and an estimate of travel costs to attend. Furthermore, you should also be willing to provide a poster, or for exceptional work provide an abstract for a paper (20 mins) under one of the conference session themes listed above.

In addition, there will be a competition for the best Student/Young researcher poster or paper, judged by the Chair and Vice-Chair. The prize will be a free 2018 conference package (registration fee, dinner and field trip). All entries for the competition must apply for the Student/Young Researchers Scholarships to be eligible. The closing date for applications is the 1st June 2017.

Applications should be addressed to AARG Chair Rachel Opitz

 

Locations

 

ArcLand International Meeting

ArcLand International Meeting will be held on 16th September from 9:00 - 13:00h in the building of the Juraj Dobrila University. For exact location of the building please check the map under Locations section of this page, because Google Maps shows the wrong building. The entrance is behind the big parking, on the corner of Mletačka and Flanatička streets.

 

Contact

For more information about the conference schedule, please contact AARG Chair Rachel Opitz

For information on becoming a member, as well as on the accommodation or the venue, please contact AARG Secretary and local organiser Sara Popović