Healing with a shovel — archaeological excavations help soldiers and veterans recover

Archaeology combines the chance to touch millennia-old history with physical activity similar to that on the front lines. Some dig the earth with a shovel, some carefully clear the soil around the find, and some clean priceless ceramic fragments. There are also those who have just arrived — they put on sunscreen and watch for now. There is work here for children too — two soldiers have brought their kids along to spend their vacation together and share a new experience.

A pension to make dreams come true

The participants’ stories can be downright cinematic. Oleh Tkachenko fought from the first days of the full-scale invasion, and in April of this year he was discharged due to age. However, the age in his passport does not affect his energy. He shows a clump of shards: “There was a whole jug just now! They smashed it with a shovel!” the man says in despair. Restorers will glue the find back together.

The newly minted archaeologist is reluctant to recall his civilian past — what’s done is done: since 1991, he was a member of the Prosvita society (a long-standing Ukrainian cultural and educational organization), for several years he headed its Zaporizhzhia regional organization, and he served as head of the Kamianka administration (a local town government). But the full-scale war changed everything — Oleh served in an infantry battalion of the 110th Territorial Defense Forces Brigade (a volunteer-heavy reserve component of Ukraine’s armed forces). He fought in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, in southeastern Ukraine.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Oleh dreamed of archaeology and yachting. Both dreams are in the process of coming true. While in service, he studied seamanship theory online. And once he left the army, he mastered the practice as well. He is now set to receive a yacht captain’s license.

Getting to know the Trypillian culture also impressed the veteran: “This is our millennia-old history! I didn’t really look into it — thought there wasn’t much Trypillia in Ukraine, that they found something and were just playing with it. And when I got here — a huge settlement, so many artifacts, simply incredible! The physical work is like digging trenches. Take more, throw farther. And the most interesting part is the archaeological tools — a little knife, a brush — and you sit there, meditate, and work on some artifact,” the man shares enthusiastically.

Oleh wants to live the rest of his life in a useful and interesting way, dedicating it to his newfound passions — yachting and excavations.

Good experience as armor

Maria “Herda” Chekh has just arrived at the excavation site. After being wounded, she is of limited use, but she has returned to the ranks. She has already participated in excavations in the past. This time, she managed to get away for only two days, but the service member is glad even for that:

“It’s very interesting. I think it’s good rehabilitation for soldiers after trauma, injury, or captivity, as in my case,” says Maria.

She laments the effects of a concussion and talks about her past. Her first degree is in Chinese translation, her second in biology. Her biology studies coincided with the Revolution of Dignity. Since 2017 she has been in the military, first in the press service and later in the international department of the Azov Regiment. She held the defense at Azovstal (the steel plant in Mariupol that was besieged in 2022), where she sustained a head injury and a knee injury. Then she endured a year in captivity. Mariia shares an observation — those prisoners who had more positive experiences behind them endured torture more easily. She calls positive experiences “armor,” something you can lean on. That is why she emphasizes the importance of gaining such experiences after returning: “For me, just sitting with a psychologist, it doesn’t work — I’m active, I need to feel something new. I try different things and suggest to my friends, to veterans, something that is closer to them.”

After returning, she spent a long time restoring the lost mobility of her leg. The experience of captivity allowed her to rethink her own aspirations. For a time the prisoners were not allowed to sit, and they were forced to walk constantly in a confined space. Strangely, it reminded Mariia of a fashion show. So she created her own clothing collection and is now developing her brand and a social project at the same time.

Getting to know Trypillia has also become a cultural touchpoint for her. Mariia is convinced that paying attention to history is another way for Ukraine not to lose its identity. Another rethinking born of her experience is the desire to become a mother. “Develop my brand, become a mother, and work on initiatives for service members and veterans,” the young woman says, summing up her goals.

I’m satisfied — meeting interesting people, a wonderful rest program, and plus we found something.

Among those who touched antiquity for the first time is Mykola (surname withheld for security reasons — ed.), a veteran of the 59th Separate Assault Brigade (Unmanned Systems), “Stepovi khyzhaky” (“Steppe Predators”). And he touched it quite literally — together with others, he found two unique, intact artifacts:

“A deep bowl, and a figure of a she-bear. “It’s a one-of-a-kind piece!” the man says.

Mykola has a long-standing love for Lehedzyne — he used to come here to celebrate the summer solstice, but due to the full-scale war, this event is no longer held. An entrepreneur and engineer in civilian life, Mykola fought near Avdiivka. As often happens, after demobilization, he continued to help his people by founding a charitable foundation that, until recently, manufactured drones.

Helping yourself by helping others

Oleksandra Korvin‑Piotrovska is lively, smiling, with a scarred hand. She is a veteran and a psychologist by education.

At first she served at the headquarters of the 43rd Brigade, but she wanted to fight. So, she transferred to the 4th Tank Brigade, where she was an operator in a strike unmanned systems company. She was discharged after being wounded and is now undergoing a military medical board to determine fitness.

Oleksandra comes from a family of archaeologists — her parents and brother work excavations. Her task in the project is to provide the cultural program, but she also joined the digs for several days. She shares her observations — the program has a positive effect on participants, and the similarity of excavations to digging trenches does not trigger them:

“So far, the military field atmosphere brings them closer to the archaeological field atmosphere… they really like the fact that they are getting involved in history. The older generation was told that Lenin invented Ukraine… and here they are holding ceramics that are almost 6,000 years old! Of course, Trypillia is not Ukraine, but the very fact that there were people here, and they can feel this connection with them, find this pottery.“

When we come back, the problem is to put ourselves together, learn to set priorities, look for resources.

Oleksandra helps organize leisure activities. She runs training sessions where she shares simple, useful life hacks — tools for self-soothing such as “box breathing” or the “grounding technique.” She talks with participants about sleep problems and gives pleasant themed little gifts. She explains — it is harder for those who entered the army at 18-19 to find themselves upon returning: “They have not yet gained their own autonomy — they went to fight straight from their parents’. When we come back, the problem is to put ourselves together, learn to set priorities, look for resources.” 

She keeps the participants busy: playing cards, puzzles, chess, board games. They go to movie screenings, and take an excursion to a nearby park. When rain made excavations impossible, the community of Lehedzyne came to the rescue, holding master classes for the guests: they molded stylized Trypillian figurines, painted miniature pots with Trypillian ornaments, made hemp dolls, and brewed coffee on sand.

Establishing a connection is easier for her thanks to the “peer-to-peer” principle — the fact that she herself has combat experience. Oleksandra shows the base where the guests live: a shared table in the yard, a flag where everyone leaves their signatures. In the cottage’s whitewashed rooms — bunk beds. A mini-library, LEGO for the youngest, and quirky, colorful drawings left by the previous resident, director and artist Naomi Uman — all of it creates a special atmosphere that in itself has a healing effect.

Oleksandra dreamed of becoming a military psychologist and completed her master’s degree remotely while already in the army, but her experience of war made her doubt herself: “Overall, it’s hard for me after what I saw in the war. For now, rehabilitation is my involvement — I’m not at war, but I’m helping.”

Ukrainian-British Amphora

The program was initiated by Serhii Taranenko, candidate of historical sciences and head of the archaeology department at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve. Serhii says that the effectiveness of excavations as rehabilitation was first discovered by his colleague, archaeologist and officer Denys Hrechka. He fought during the ATO and, upon his return, invited his comrades to excavate the Bilsk settlement, a major Scythian‑era hillfort site in Poltava Oblast. It was not an official program, but simply a friendly collaboration. Serhii later applied this experience himself, creating a project in 2023 on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra called “Spiritual Restoration of Culture.” Ten soldiers live on the territory of the reserve for ten days, working on excavations, listening to lectures, and getting acquainted with architectural monuments.

Serhii is a visiting research fellow at Bournemouth University in the U.K. When he told his colleagues about the interaction between archaeologists and veterans, he learned that the U.K. Ministry of Defence has an archaeological service that involves veterans in research. Their methodology is called “Amphora,” and Taranenko made some adjustments and named the project “AMPHORA-Ukraine.” 

In total, the pilot project lasted 11 days and involved nine people, not counting children. The idea is to spread this format of interaction with service members and veterans across expeditions throughout the country.

“It turns out this ‘Amphora’ program exists in Australia, too. And they say: ‘We will come to Ukraine, we’re interested!’ In 2026 at least two PhDs will come here; we’ll have an international component,” the historian says.

The first farmers in Ukraine, the largest settlement in the world

The village where the excavations are taking place is called Talianky. It was the largest Trypillian settlement, covering an area of 450 hectares (1,112 acres), with more than 3,000 buildings. Right now, they are excavating a kiln where large pots were fired. The veteran project is led by Yevhen Synytsia, associate professor of the Department of Archaeology and Museology at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Archaeologists’ Union: “Large Trypillian vessels have been known for a long time, but it was not clear how they were fired. Now that these kilns have been found, the secret has been revealed,” he explains.

There is a museum and a pavilion on the territory of the Trypillian Culture State Historical and Cultural Reserve. Vladyslav Chabaniuk, historian and film director; director of the reserve, conducts an impromptu tour. In addition to exhibiting finds, they are reconstructing dwellings and those very kilns to understand in practice how they worked in ancient times. According to Chabaniuk, such kilns are proof that the Trypillians made a technological breakthrough and learned to regulate temperature.

According to the historian, the reserve includes 11 settlements: “Among the huge number of settlements, there are about 2,000 in Ukraine, only 20 are giant, they are the largest in the world for that time — 15,000 people. 5,800 years ago — several hundred years before the emergence of the first cities in Mesopotamia and Egypt,” says the tour guide.

The goddess who speaks 

Among the museum’s unique exhibits is the oldest fabric in Ukraine — a fragment that is 5,500 years old. The oldest copper fishing hook in Ukraine, approximately 6,200 years old. Knife-like plates, hoes, sickles.

The sacred world of the Trypillians is interestingly presented, with items that were considered intermediaries between the world of humans and the world of gods — figurines of people, animals, and spherical vessels. Chabaniuk shows and explains:

“This is the only figurine in Ukraine of a pregnant goddess who ‘talks’. Shake it, and you will hear a sound that sounded 6,000 years ago! There is a hollow space in her belly, and there are ceramic balls, nine balls. When they found her, they did an ultrasound,” says the scientist.

One of the biggest myths about the Trypillians is the idea that they were a purely peaceful people. However, archaeology refutes this: the arrowheads, darts, and light spears that have been found are weapons. This reminds us once again that history is cyclical. The first farmers on the territory of Ukraine 6,000 years ago, whose way of life is being studied by modern soldiers as a form of rehabilitation, also had to defend themselves from enemies.

Text: Olena Maksymenko
Photos: Danylo Dubchak

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