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A clear mind and a pair of hands is needed to discover the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, an archaeological treasure trove

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times / Science) - Since prehistoric times, the river that splits Moldova, the Dniester, has been a barrier between peoples.

Cultures on the western side of the river, where most of Moldova now lies, often were a bulwark against Eurasian tribes invading from the east. Artifacts from the encampments, as the tribes waited for an opportunity to cross, bear witness to the centuries-long standoff and make the thin strip on the east, the self-proclaimed Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, an archaeological treasure trove.

Today, the Dniester River is as redoubtable as ever. In 1989, the Slavic majority in Transdniestria rebelled after the Moldovan government adopted measures that appeared to discriminate against Russian speakers - in particular, a law that designated Romanian as the official language.

Transdniestria declared independence the following year, and mounting tensions culminated in a brief but bloody conflict in 1992. No nation has recognized its claim to statehood, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe are brokering negotiations to bring Transdniestria back under the Moldovan flag, although with significant autonomy.

For scientists, the region's breakaway status throws up unusual hurdles.

" - The most important problem is being cut off from the international scientific community," says Vladimir Okushko, vice rector at Pridnestrovie's State University, which has negligible resources for research or travel to conferences abroad.

Biodiversity project

Yet, impoverishment and isolation haven't entirely extinguished the scientific spirit.

" - We still do fieldwork but pay for it from our own pockets," says university ecologist Sergey Filipenko. Archaeological digs requiring little more than "a clear mind and a pair of hands" continue each summer, adds Igor Chetvericov, an archaeologist who's leading the excavation of an Iron Age site called Glinoe. Across Transdniestria, he says, "we're lucky in that our territory hasn't been plundered," and sites are intact.

One bright spot is a new effort to preserve biodiversity in the Dniester Delta. As part of a $2 million project with World Bank support, Biotica, a Chisinau-based nonprofit organization, is establishing the Lower Dniester National Park, 5000 hectares straddling Transdniestria and Moldova.

Biotica also aims to restore wetlands and floodplain forests in a 25,000-hectare buffer zone. The project, involving scientists on both banks, shows that "political barriers are not impossible to overcome," says Leonid Ershov, a Transdniestrian biologist. It's a small sign, perhaps, that the river that divides can also bring people together.

See also:
» Slavic Pridnestrovie is birthplace of ancient Ukraine [1]
» Moldova: Only to the Dniester [2]
» The shared - and not so shared - history of Pridnestrovie and Moldova [3]

(Reprinted with permission from 'Science', Vol. 304. no. 5674, p. 1100. Copyright American Association for the Advancement of Science).