Natalia Khamaiko

Doctor in the field of Humanities in the discipline of Archaeology

Description of the field of scientific research:

Natalia's research focuses on the archaeology of the Middle Dnipro region (Kyiv, Chernihiv, Shestovytsia) in the Middle Ages. Her special interests include board games in medieval Europe and the worldview of early Rus. Recent projects are related to the issues of cultural and commercial contacts within medieval Europe and distant contacts with Byzantium, the Middle East, and Central Asia — the trade-in amphorae and glass. 

List of duties:

In 2022, Natalia was invited to the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) as a researcher at risk. She is currently researching the archaeology and history of Kievan Rus. She is a member of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), the Medieval Europe Research Community (MERC), and the International Council of Museums (ICOM), serves as a Research Expert for the European Commission services, and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Kyiv-Mohyla Archaeology Journal.

Professional experience:

From 2001 to 2003, Natalia worked as an assistant at the Department of History and Archeology of Ukraine at the Chernihiv State Pedagogical University Taras Shevchenko (now the T. H. Shevchenko National University «Chernihiv Colehium»). From 2003 to 2011, she was a researcher at the permanent archaeological expedition in Podil, Kyiv. Since 2011, she has been a junior researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine.

In addition, since 2001, Natalia has taught at the T. H. Shevchenko National University «Chernihiv Collegium» and since 2008 — at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Also, from 2022 to 2024, Natalia was a visiting scholar at the GWZO under the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) scholarship programs and the Volkswagen Foundation for Refugee Scholars and Scientists from Ukraine. Since September 2023, she has worked as a researcher at the GWZO in the Department of Human and Environment.

Since 2024, she has also been a member of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA).

Keywords:

• Humanities

• Project management

• History and archeology

• Fundraising

• Public speaking

Scientific projects:

• Byzantine Amphorae from Kyiv: A New Archaeometric Perspective.

  Read

  Role: Selecting material, comunicating in team and out, investigation

Basic scientific publications:

• Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages

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  Barrett, J. H., Khamaiko, N., Ferrari, G., Cuevas, A., Kneale, C., Hufthammer, A. K., Pálsdóttir, A. H. and Star, B. Procceeding of the Royal Society B 289: 20212773. 2022.

  Role: Author

• Idol ze Zbrucha: zabytek z epoki romantyzmu?

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  Idol ze Zbrucha: zabytek z epoki romantyzmu? Komar, O. & Chamajko, N. Materiały i Sprawozdania Rzeszowskiego Ośrodka Archeologicznego. 2013. Supl. t. XXXIV.

  Role: Author

• The Rus’ lunula pendant from 11th – 13th century: pagan amulet or Christian ornament?

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  Khamayko, N. In: Salamon, M., Wołoszyn, M., Musin, A., Špehar, P. (eds.). Rome, Constantinople and Newly-Converted Europe: Archaeological and Historical Evidence, II, 503-525. Kraków – Leipzig – Rzeszów – Warszawa: Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas, Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii PAN, Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego. 2012.

  Role: Author

• The first results of archaeometric characterization and provenance studies of Byzantine amphorae from Poland. Praehistorische Zeitschrift, March 19.

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  Korokhina, A., Waksman, S. Y., Auch, M., Khamaiko, N., Trzeciecki, M., Tymoshenko, M., Dzieńkowski, T. and Wołoszyn, M. 2025.

  Role: Author