Nuclear "Soldiers of Freedom". Remote sensing of Cold War landscapes in Poland
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 22/09/2020

In my paper I will present the case study of three abandoned Soviet nuclear warhead storage sites from the territories of Poland: 1. Object 3001 in Podborsko (West Pomeranian Voivode-ship); 2. Object 3002 in Brzeźnica Kolonia (Greater Poland Voivodeship) and 3. Object 3003 in Templewo (Lubusz Voivodeship). My narration will be based on the analysis of Airborne Laser Scanning data, historical and modern aerial photographs, declassified satellite imagery (Corona and  Hexagon),  CIA  reports,  as  well  as  the  Polish-Russian  agreements  and  other  documents  from the archives of the Institute of National Rememance of Poland. I intend to search for an answer to the questions about the cognitive potential of the archaeological perspective in studies of the remains of top-secret military sites. I am also going to argue that such an approach may be seen as a qualitative turn in the narration of recent past events and help in the protection of  the  abandoned  Cold  War  military  installations  from  further  decay.  Historical  records  of  former top secret military facilities often have numerous narrative gaps. Some of information were purposely omitted in official documentation, while others were never to be registered. In the case of discussed former nuclear storage sites the gap of 23 years in declassified historical record available through Polish archives can be observed. Archaeological approach, in certain circumstances, has a cognitive potential to interpret such inconsistencies through integration and reinterpretation of archaeological and historical sources.


Grzegorz Kiarszys