Archaeologist Daniel Pilař receives Czech Government Award

Archaeologist Daniel Pilař has been awarded the 2025 Czech Government Award for Students. Pilař, a doctoral student at Charles University and the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, was recognized for his research into food processing in the earliest agricultural societies of Europe and the Near East.

His work focuses on reconstructing daily life at Neolithic settlements by analyzing waste materials, such as ceramic fragments, bone pieces, and plant remains. Pilař utilizes these archaeological sources to study diet, technology, and the transmission of knowledge across generations. His research also examines long-distance contacts between communities and the environmental impact of prehistoric populations.

Currently, Pilař conducts field research in Turkey, investigating stone tools used for food processing to understand how these methods evolved over time. His work explores hypotheses regarding the movement of people from the region of modern-day Turkey into Central Europe and the subsequent introduction of new agricultural practices, such as bread production.