Pasko Kuzman (
Macedonian: Паско Кузман; born 1947) is a
Macedonian archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
.
Work
Kuzman has been working on the whole territory of
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
, but especially in the
Skopje area and
Lake Ohrid
Lake Ohrid ( mk, Охридско Езеро , al, Liqeni i Ohrit , also referred as ''Liqeni i Pogradecit'';) is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Eu ...
, one of the deepest lakes in Europe. There, he has been excavating 3,000-year-old submerged sites of
Lychnidos
Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhab ...
, and some remains in the area of the
Samuil's Fortress, which were built probably at the time of
Philip II Philip II may refer to:
* Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC)
* Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor
* Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374)
* Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404)
* Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
* Philip ...
.
Kuzman is considered in North Macedonia to be the most deserved man for the archaeologist findings in the country in the recent years.
[Vecer]
По 4 ќерки-Внук - Паско Кузман стана дедо. 29-12-2009
In 2013 he was arrested on antiquities smuggling charges, and placed under house arrest for 30 days. A year later he was found guilty of aiding a criminal ring in excavating and selling off valuable archeological artefacts, and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Kuzman is a firm believer that the enduring archeological mystery of the
tomb of Alexander the Great
The tomb of Alexander the Great is attested in several historical accounts, but its current exact location is an enduring mystery. Following Alexander's death in Babylon, his body was initially buried in Memphis by Ptolemy I Soter, before bein ...
is hidden in southeastern parts of North Macedonia, and pledged in an interview in late 2012 that he will never stop searching for the tomb.
Private life
Pasko Kuzman is married and has four daughters, most recently he became a grandfather.
[
Pasko Kuzman is a self-proclaimed time traveller. He wears three watches on his left wrist, which he says help him travel through time: one takes him back to the Bronze and Neolithic Age, one takes him to the future, and the third is "The Archeologists' Watch," which alerts him to the presence of gold.][Richard Bangs, ''Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Earth'', p.297, Menasha Ridge Press, 2007]
References
Macedonian archaeologists
Living people
1947 births
People from Ohrid Municipality
{{archaeologist-stub