The American Turkish Society and Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University (ISAW) present a lecture with

Christopher Roosevelt
Associate Professor of Archaeology
Boston University

on the topic:

“Probing and Preserving the Past in Western Turkey: The Central Lydia Archaeological Survey”

The Central Lydia Archaeological Survey has been investigating all periods of the human past in central western Anatolia since 2005. The project focuses on a roughly 350 sq. km. area surrounding Marmara Gölü (the ancient Gygaean Lake), around 10 km north of Sardis, the capital of Lydia in the Iron Age. In addition to the funerary monuments of Bin Tepe, the area of a "thousand mounds" commonly identified as the royal cemetery of the Lydians, the project has shed light on periods ranging from Paleolithic to recent times. This presentation highlights recent discoveries including a network of large, well-preserved citadels that may have composed the core of the Seha River Land, a Bronze Age kingdom important to the Hittites in their territorial control of western Anatolia, as well as rifle trenches and other emplacements associated with the outbreak of the Turkish War of Independence. Along with such ongoing investigations, the presentation emphasizes preservation initiatives that encourage local and regional efforts to protect heritage landscapes through a variety of monitoring and outreach programs, including annual inventories of looting and destruction, as well as community meetings and educational programs for children.

Christopher Roosevelt is an Associate Professor of Archaeology at Boston University. A member of the Archaeological Institute of America, the American Research Institute in Turkey, the British Institute of Archaeology in Ankara, and the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, he is the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant for a project titled “Environmental and Cultural Dynamics in Central Lydia, Western Turkey.” He has contributed to the American Journal of Archaeology, the Journal of Field Archaeology, and other journals and edited volumes.

The event is free and online registration is not available for this event. Please email info@americanturkishsociety.org for questions or inquiries.