Biography
Tonko has been involved in archaeology since his childhood. After a long-spell (pre-1994) as both archaeological site director and museum curator in Serbia, he emigrated to England and undertook an MPhil in World Archaeology in this Department in 2003-4, specialising in late Upper Palaeolithic archaeology of ex-Yugoslavia, before joining the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, until 2008 when he became the geoarchaeology technician here.
Education:
1982-1987: BA in Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Belgrade
2003-2004: MPhil in World Archaeology, University of Cambridge
2014-2017: PhD in Archaeology, University of Ljubljana
Languages:
Serbian: native fluency
Bosnian: mother tongue
Croatian: native fluency
English: advanced in speaking, reading and writing
Russian: advanced in speaking and reading
Research
Current roles:
- assisting the lab director in thin sectioning work, both research and commercial, to maintain the very well known ‘brand’ of the McBurney Lab whose services are regularly sought by many other researchers in the UK, Europe and world-wide.
- soil, stone, shell, lithic and pottery thin section slide production (from c. 400 to 500 thin sections per year)
- responsible for the WB B5 and 4.2 lab equipment, waste disposal and re-cycling of consumables; the FTIR and fluorescence microscope kit in WB 4.2 lab; geoarchaeology laboratory consumables spending and budget
- development and writing of new and updated protocols for the making of thin sections of soils, and new protocols for stone, lithics, pottery, shell and bone
- mentoring and individual training of at least 15 MPhil/PhD students and 10 post-doctoral researchers, from Cambridge and elsewhere
- organisation, coordination and guidance of the undergraduate field-trips to Serbia in 2016 and Montenegro in 2018
- organisation of a future undergraduate field-trip to Croatia, planned for Easter, 2021
- coordination and running of the undergraduate Training Excavation with the CAU from 2008 to present
- assisting (the lab director) with the development and coordination of a new collaborative research project with Prof S. Peric and the Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade, at the Neolithic settlement site of Drenovac, Serbia
- assisting in EU/Erasmus project application with Prof P. Novakovic of the University of Ljubljana for geoarchaeological and fieldwork training in several countries of the former Yugoslavia
Work experience:
2011-present: Chief Research Laboratory Technician - Geoarchaeology, McBurney Laboratory for Geoarchaeology, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
2008-2011: Research Technician - Geoarchaeology, McBurney Laboratory for Geoarchaeology, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
2011- 2018: Consultant Archaeologist, Ove Arup & Partners International Ltd, Koridor X (E 75 and E 80 motorway routes), Serbia during
2011: Researcher and project coordinator for Bosnian case study in the project ‘Cultural Heritage and the Reconstruction of Identities after Conflict'/ CRIC (PI Prof Marie Louise Stig Sørensen, University of Cambridge, a 4-year international comparative project funded by the European Union to investigate the destruction of cultural heritage during armed conflict and its role in post- conflict reconstruction, at five European locations (France, Spain, Germany, Bosnia and Cyprus)
2006-present: Co-director of following projects:
1- ‘Palaeolithic of Northern Bosnia’ (PI Dr Preston T. Miracle, University of
Cambridge; British Academy funded and supported by Bosnian
Heritage and National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
2- ‘Geoarchaeological investigations of the River Sava Valley’ (PI Dr Charly French, University of Cambridge; British Academy funded and supported by Bosnian Heritage and National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
3- ‘Neolithization of Europe’ (PI Dr Marc Vander Linden, University of Leicester; EU funded and supported by Bosnian Heritage and National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
4- ‘Origins of European civilization’ (PI Dr Preston T. Miracle, University of Cambridge; British Academy funded and supported by Bosnian Heritage and National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
2007-2008: Assistant Supervisor, Cambridge Archaeological Unit
2006: Graphics Assistant, Cambridge Archaeological Unit
2005-2007: Senior Site Assistant, Cambridge Archaeological Unit
1989-1998 Curator, Department of Archaeology, Museum of Mining and Metallurgy, Bor (Serbia)
1988-1989: Curator, Cultural Centre, Tešanj (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
1986-1988 Archaeological Consultant, Department of Archaeology, University of Belgrade
Main Archaeological Field Projects Directed and Managed:
In the projects (of many more) itemised below, his duties included: project planning and phasing, financial management, management of the excavation and post-excavation phases.
2007 Excavation of Palaeolithic sites in Northern Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (summer campaign)
2007 Field survey of Northern Bosnia Region (spring campaign)
2006 Excavation of Palaeolithic sites in Northern Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (summer campaign)
2006 Field survey of Northern Bosnia Region (spring campaign)
2005 Excavation of early Neolithic sites in Danube Gorge region, Iron Gates, (Serbia)
2004 Field Survey of Iron Gates Region (Serbia)
1998 Excavation of the Bronze Age site Borsko Jezero in collaboration with the Centre for Archaeological Research, University of Belgrade (Serbia)
1995-1996 Excavation of Roman site of Kraku Lu Jordan, Kučevo, (Serbia)
1994-1997 Excavation of the Late Neolithic site Kapetanova Pecina, Majdanpek (Serbia)
1994-1997 Excavation of the Prehistoric site of Kameni Rog, Majdanpek (Serbia)
1994-1997 Excavation of the Roman site of Kamenjar, Majdanpek (Serbia) 1989-1997 Survey of the Bor and Majdanpek regions (Serbia)
1993-1995 Excavation of the prehistoric site of Panjevacki rit, Jagodina, (Serbia) 1988-1989 Survey of Tešanj region, Bosnia and Herzegovina
1992-1993 Excavation of the Praurija site, Majdanpek (Serbia)
1991 Excavation of Bronze Age site of Feudvar, (Serbia)
1988 Excavation of Paleolithic site of Trebačko brdo, Tesanj
1987-1997 Excavation of the Roman site of Gamzigrad (Felix Romuliana), Zaječar, (Serbia)
1988 Excavation of the medieval site of Svac, Ulcinj (Montenegro)
1986-1988 Excavation of the site of Bioče (Montenegro)
1986-1988 Survey of the Morača river valley (Montenegro)
1986 Excavation of the Palaeolithic site of Stolac-Badanj (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
1985 Excavation of rock shelter site in Tešanj, Stari Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina
1984-1985 Excavation of Palaeolithic and medieval site of Stari Grad, Tešanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Key Publications
Rajkovaca, T. 2019. Frameworks and Development Perspectives of Preventive Archaeology in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Belgrade: Institute of Archaeology.
Rajkovaca, T. 2018. Foreword: Culture-Making Sense of Everything. In Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure of Republic of Serbia ed.) Corridor 10 (Project east/project south) Belgrade: ARUP.
Rajkovaca, T. 2016. Foreword: Development-led Archaeology in Serbia: the case of Corridor X. In Novakovic, P., Hornak, M., Guermandi, M.P., Stauble, H., Depaepe, P. & Demoule, J-P. (eds.) Recent Developments in Preventive Archaeology in Europe: Proceeding of the 22nd EAA Meeting in Vilnius 2016, pp. 281-293. Ljubljana: Ljubljana University Press.
Rajkovaca, T. and Appleby, J. 2015. A Short Manual for Archaeological Excavation. Banja Luka: University of Banja Luka/Faculty of Philosophy.
Rajkovaca, T. and Martinovic, A. 2015. Foreword: Historical and archaeological survey parishes Jelah with site-specific emphasis on Zabljak parish church and church of St Peter and Paul in Tesanj. Godina Zupe Jelah 40, 7-18. Tesanj: HKD Napredak Podruznica Tesanj.
Rajkovaca, T. 2015. Appendix 3: A brief guide to making soil/sediment thin sections: from the field to finished slide using Brot grinding system. In French, C. A handbook of geoarchaeological approaches for investigating landscapes and settlement sites, pp. 97-100. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
French, C., Rajkovaca, T., Marriner, G., Taylor, S., Redhouse, D. and Radivojac, M. 2015. New archaeological and geoarchaeological investigations of the prehistoric site of Zecovi, near Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Godisnjak (Jahrbuch) 40, 5-49. Sarajevo: Centar za Balkanoloska Ispitivanja.
Rajkovaca, T. 2014. Foreword: The Palaeolithic in Northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Pandzic, I. (ed.) Archaeological Diary of Palaeolithic Research in Northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, pp. 7-19. Banja Luka: University of Banja Luka/Faculty of Philosophy
Marriner, G., French, C. and Rajkovaca, T. 2014. Foreword: Geoarchaeology. In Vander Linden, M. and Pandzic, I. (eds.) The Neolithic site of Kočićevo in the lower Vrbas valley (Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina): report of the 2009-2014 field seasons, pp. 34-62. Banja Luka: University of Banja Luka/Faculty of Philosophy.
Rajkovaca, T. 2010. Kratki arheoloski prirucnik za iskopavanje. Banjaluka: Besjeda.