Christopher H. Roosevelt

Excavation is Destruction Digitization: Advances in Archaeological Practice

Abstract This article modifies an old archaeological adage—“excavation is destruction”—to demonstrate how advances in archaeological practice suggest a new iteration: “excavation is digitization.” Digitization, in a fully digital paradigm, refers to practices that leverage advances in onsite, image-based modeling and volumetric recording, integrated databases, and data sharing. Such practices were implemented in 2014 during the inaugural season of the Kaymakçı Archaeological Project (KAP) in western Turkey. The KAP recording system, developed from inception before excavation as a digital workflow, increases accuracy and efficiency as well as simplicity and consistency. The system also encourages both practical and conceptual advances in archaeological practice. These involve benefits associated with thinking volumetrically, rather than in two dimensions, and a connectivity that allows for group decision-making regardless of group location. Additionally, it is hoped that the systems use of almost entirely “off-the-shelf” solutions will encourage its adoption or at least its imitation by other projects.

Valuing the past Perceptions of archaeological practice in Lydia and the Levant

In both western Turkey and the Levant, archaeology has a long history, with the rise in interest and discovery beginning in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. While many have focused on the history of excavations in both of these areas, we approach historical analyses from a different perspective. Utilizing the voices of local actors, this article aims to understand the social reactions of local communities to the increasingly prominent role of people practicing archaeology — archaeologists, diplomats, explorers — through the lens of the antiquities trade over the last two centuries. Interlacing examples from Lydia and the Levant, we provide an overview of archaeological praxis and then offer the positions of the participants, gathered from archival and published materials as well as more recent interviews, conversations, and correspondences.

Mapping site-level microtopography with Real- Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite Systems (RTK GNSS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photogrammetry (UAVP)

Abstract Microtopographic mapping has a long history in archaeology and has gained prominence recently owing to the proliferation of digital technologies. With such proliferation, it becomes necessary to compare and contrast different approaches based on a common set of criteria. This article compares the implementation and efficiency of two methods of mapping microtopography – ground-based Real-Time Kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System (RTK GNSS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Photogrammetry (UAVP) survey – assessing the pros and cons of each, including those related to data quality. ‘Off-the-shelf’ solutions for methods were used to create the comparative dataset of microtopographic maps of six Middle and Late Bronze Age sites over the course of four seasons between 2007 and 2013 in the study area of the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey in western Turkey. Comparison of results demonstrate that the methods are similar with respect to ease of implementation, cost efficiency, and the (in)significance of data defects, while, unsurprisingly, UAVP survey can be greater than one order of magnitude more labor efficient than RTK GNSS survey and over two orders of magnitude more detailed as measured by data density. The accuracy of both methods is high, within typical error budgets for site-level mapping, and comparable to other recent digital mapping approaches. Accordingly, the results suggest that, given site suitability, UAVP is the more labor and cost-efficient method in the long run, with significant data quality benefits.

Tumulus Survey and Museum Research in Lydia, Western Turkey: Determining Lydian- and Persian-Period Settlement Patterns

Abstract Regional archaeological research in Lydia (western Turkey) has focused on prehistoric and Hellenistic through Byzantine periods with relative neglect of settlement patterns during the period in which Lydia was under Lydian and, subsequently, Persian control in the 7th through 4th centuries B.C. A multi-component research project conducted in 2000 and 2001 aimed to establish Lydian- and Persian-period settlement patterns through a regional survey targeting tumuli (burial mounds) and documentation of primarily unpublished archives and provenienced finds in local museums. The primary hypothesis was that tumulus groups could be used to infer general locations of settlement areas. At least 510 tumuli, representing between 75 and 117 groups of tumuli, and at least 113 other sites of the Lydian and Persian periods were identified. Comparison of the tumulus survey and museum data using Geographic Information Systems shows that tumulus groups do indicate general locations of Lydian- and Persian-period settlement in greater Lydia and can be used to determine contemporary regional settlement patterns. This approach shows the value of combining different classes of data in regional archaeological approaches and the continuing utility of extensive survey for regional studies of particular periods in archaeologically untested areas.

Composing communities: Chalcolithic through Iron Age survey ceramics in the Marmara Lake basin, western Turkey

Abstract Diachronic survey in the Marmara Lake basin of western Turkey confirms long-term settlement activity from the 5th millennium b.c. to the present. Here we present the results from a study of ceramics and settlement distribution pertaining to the Chalcolithic through the Iron Age periods (ca. 5th/4th–1st millennium b.c.). Our dataset confirms the value of a multi-pronged approach when establishing ceramic typologies from survey datasets, incorporating distribution in the landscape with macroscopic, microscopic (petrographic), and chemical (Instrumental Neutron Activation) analyses. Our results offer valuable insights into continuity as well as change of ceramic recipes in western Anatolia during the rise of urbanism in the Middle to Late Bronze Age followed by the establishment of an imperial realm in the Iron Age. From a methodological perspective, our results illustrate the value of macroscopic and chemical approaches, including principal component, distribution, density, and discriminant analyses that can be refined further by petrography, for the interpretation of surface survey ceramics.

Archaeo-tectural Translations: New Roles for the Field Architect

This article examines the field architect’s evolving role in interdisciplinary archaeology projects when equipped with new technologies for reconstructing ancient history. The research analyzes how digital technologies facilitate the architect’s extrapolation of embedded knowledge from archaeological datasets, especially those contained in a shared interoperable modeling domain, to enhance understanding of ancient building traditions. The outcomes from this research illuminate how people in the second millennium BCE lived and engaged with the environment through constructed systems, offering new technology-enhanced methods to reveal the architectural knowledge that resides within archaeological sites.

Cup-Marks and Citadels: Evidence for Libation in 2nd-Millennium B.C.E. Western Anatolia

Shallow conical depressions hewn into bedrock, known as cup-marks, have been documented at and around 2nd-millennium B.C.E. citadels in the Marmara Lake basin of the Gediz Valley, western Anatolia. These rupestral features are among the best indications of the presence of libation ceremonies in the region and provide evidence that local communities shared in cultural traditions spread over western and central Anatolia. Libation rituals in the basin were probably intended to summon the divine for protection, stewardship of the dead, and/or assurance of agricultural prosperity through maintenance of stable environmental conditions. Periodic catastrophes, resulting from massive inundations and/or droughts typical to the region, weigh in favor of an environmental interpretation. We frame our discussion of the topography and archaeology of the Gediz Valley and the evidence for Middle to Late Bronze Age cup-marks within the context of historical geography and the archaeology of Anatolia.