Discovery of Medieval Skeleton

Date: July 11, 1928 • Location: Malá Strana, Czech Republic

Archaeologist Ivan Borkovský discovered a medieval skeleton at Prague Castle; competing factions claimed the skeleton as Germanic or Slavic in origin.

Ivan Borkovský was a Czech-Ukrainian archaeologist. He spent his early career as a soldier fighting for the Austro-Hungarian Army against the Russians in the First World War. He later served in the Ukrainian War of Independence and fought for both the White and Red Armies in the Russian Civil War. Borkovský fled to Czechoslovakia in 1920 and, after a period in internment camps, settled there. He graduated with a degree in archaeology from Prague's Charles University and headed up excavations at Prague Castle as well as at Czernin Palace.