Journal of Field Archaeology, Editor by Christina Luke
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research,, 2017
Shallow conical depressions hewn into bedrock, known as cup-marks, have been documented at and ar... more 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.
6 issues a year
The Journal of Field Archaeology is published for professionals concerned with th... more 6 issues a year
The Journal of Field Archaeology is published for professionals concerned with the interpretation of the archaeological record around the world. In addition to articles containing analyses of archaeological data from excavations, surveys, and laboratory research, the JFA publishes articles about archaeological heritage and ethics and the history of archaeology, technical and methodological studies, and book reviews.
Diplomacy, Archaeology and Heritage by Christina Luke
History and Anthropology, 2023
During the 1960s, the scope of field archaeology in the Middle East transformed dramatically, dri... more During the 1960s, the scope of field archaeology in the Middle East transformed dramatically, driven by foreign aid funded dam-led regional development projects. The paradigm of riverbasin salvage, intimately connected to dam projects first developed in the US Southeast during the Great Depression, was exported alongside the dam-building expertise, but with unanticipated results. Rather than creating a worldwide system of emergency archaeology to mitigate the threats posed to heritage by the global project of modernization, the Decade of Development resulted in archaeologists becoming consultants in irrigation, education, and financekey prerequisites to the emergence of today's dominant modalities of the linkage between archaeology and development centred on regulatory compliance fieldwork and the encouragement of cultural tourism.
In Winds of Change Environment and Society in Anatolia, edited by C.H. Roosevelt and J. Haldon. Chicago and Koç University Press., 2022
The extreme weather events of the long eighteenth century in the Ottoman world have long been stu... more The extreme weather events of the long eighteenth century in the Ottoman world have long been studied as a catalyst for widespread social and political changes. According to Faruk Tabak, the inundation of early-modern Mediterranean waterscapes during this period dramatically transformed settlement and production patterns. Those who moved from valley floors to foothills escaped catastrophic flooding and secured greater protection from rogue bandits, who took advantage of the corresponding social and political upheavals to wreak havoc (Tabak 2008). By the middle of the nineteenth century, climate changes resulted in drier periods, altering yet again local and regional responses. Our focus here is to situate lakes and wetlands into the environmental and political historiographies of western Anatolia from the mid-nineteenth century through the early twentieth century.
Contemporary Levant, 2021
This article charts the nascent development agendas for archaeological heritage and tourism at Pe... more This article charts the nascent development agendas for archaeological heritage and tourism at Petra in Jordan. We begin with the early internationalism of UNESCO and its participation programme for Petra followed by the restructuring of American foreign policy interests to embed heritage tourism within USAID projects. A technocratic tourismas-assistance model galvanised USAID and the World Bank's interest in Petra, as it did the CIA, the American Schools of Oriental Research, the US National Park Service, and Jordan's Department of Antiquities. Thus, we reveal how saving Petra was underwritten by an increasing American vigilance in the Middle East. Unlike the educational and humanitarian components of the United Nations programme, the USAID and World Bank initiatives at Petra were almost exclusively directed toward tourism development, generating hard-currency revenue, monetising the Nabataean ruins, and sowing the seeds of predatory capitalism. Our longitudinal study reveals that what has been sustained at Petra is not the preservation of heritage, nor support for local communities, but rather an overburden of international bureaucracy and consultancy culture. KEYWORDS Archaeology; heritage tourism; security; Jordan; USA Situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea and inhabited since prehistoric times, Petra is best known internationally as the rock-cut capital city of the Nabateans. Petra was both constructed and carved into the red sandstone rock, set amidst mountains riddled with passages and gorges. An ingenious water management system allowed extensive human settlement of an essentially arid area during the Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine periods. UNESCO considers it to be one of the world's richest and largest archaeological sites and listed Petra as World Heritage in 1985. But it also has a remarkable twentieth-century history similarly tied to shifting empires and occupation, trade, and economics, and was subject to the forces of nationalism and internationalism that we trace here. Developing Petra brought together strands of government, military, corporate, and archaeological interest in a kind of adventurism that was, in many ways, an extension of the colonial enterprise. Scholars have recently described how colonial legacies (Ottoman era and interwar) and post-WWII neoliberal agendas have inflected UNESCO, the World Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in shaping Jordan's approach to archaeology and museums (Corbett 2015, Abu-Khafajah and Miqdadi 2019). Here we explore the historiography of assistance, from UNESCO's projects to the American hegemony of USAID, IMF and the World Bank programmes.
History and Anthropology, 2020
From the 1930s to the late 1970s, American archaeologists pursued a paired agenda of science and ... more From the 1930s to the late 1970s, American archaeologists pursued a paired agenda of science and salvage such that their focus on logical positivism converged with US foreign policy towards international technical assistance. River basin salvage archaeology, pioneered in the US by the Tennessee Valley Authority and exported to the Middle East in the 1950s, was a prime example of American Cold War techno-politics that accompanied other international aid and technical assistance programmes. Amphitheaters of archaeology along the Nile and Euphrates were fertile testing grounds for the development of what became known as the ‘New Archaeology’, but also new deals, new science, infrastructure, and agriculture within a Cold War setting, so that monumental heritage and dam projects became flashpoints between American visions for the Middle East and attempts by UNESCO to maintain the spirit of internationalism.
Journal of Social Archaeology, 2018
The district of Novi Pazar in southwestern Serbia offers an ideal case study to explore heritage ... more The district of Novi Pazar in southwestern Serbia offers an ideal case study to explore heritage and diplomacy. By analyzing processes of Europeanization and perceptions of Neo-Ottomanism in heritage practices, the article demonstrates how past, present, and future plans for South East Europe are embroiled in development trajectories that encompass partners from not only Europe and Turkey but also the United States, Asia, and the Middle East. The World Heritage Center at UNESCO and its partner organization, International Council on Monuments and Sites, hold firm commitments to the Christian identities of Stari Ras and Sopocani Sopocani and legacies of medieval Raška as well as the legacies of Imperial Rome. Yet, they operate in a vacuum, neglecting to consider the hyper-connectivity that is transforming not only the physical landscapes of the region and the revitalization of Sandžak and Islamic identities but also the corporate and diplomatic spheres of transnational and multidimensional interests.
International Journal of Cultural Policy , 2019
This paper traces the cultural missions and salvage archaeology programs along the Euphrates Rive... more This paper traces the cultural missions and salvage archaeology programs along the Euphrates River around Raqqa from the 1950s onwards. We suggest that the varied investments from international expeditions, conservation programs, and technical assistance in Syria have an important, untold history that is relevant to recent developments and conflicts in northern Syria. We explore the intersecting practices of archaeology and assistance, illuminated by archives drawn from international agencies
such as UNESCO, as well as companies, consultants, bureaucrats, and archaeologists. Our focus is upon foreign intervention around imperiled heritage, considering not only internal politics but also UNESCO’s 1960s shift from fully funded campaigns to global appeals reliant on foreign
governments, corporations, and universities. The outsourcing of salvage allowed specific patrons – national and international – to privilege particular pasts; and it is these histories and legacies that further require us to reassess the place of Raqqa in the current civil war.
Oxford University Press, 2019
Known as "the Pearl of the Mediterranean," Izmir invokes a city and countryside blessed with good... more Known as "the Pearl of the Mediterranean," Izmir invokes a city and countryside blessed with good fortune; it is known to many as the homeland of Ephesus, Bergama, and Sardis. Yet, Turkey's third largest city has an especially vexed past. The Greek pursuit of the Megali Idea leveraged Classical history for 19th century political gains, and in so doing also foreshadowed the "Asia Minor Catastrophe." Princeton University's work at Sardis played into the duplicitous agendas of western archaeologists, learned societies, and diplomats seeking to structure heritage policy and international regulations in their favor, from the 1919 Paris Peace Conference to the League of Nations. A Pearl in Peril reveals the voices of those on the ground. It also explores how Howard Crosby Butler, William Hepburn Buckler, and William Berry penetrated the inner circle of world leaders, including Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George, and Eleftherios Venizelos.
On the smoldering ashes of Anatolia's scorched earth, foreign intervention continued apace with plans for large-scale development. A Pearl in Peril tackles the untold story of Julian Huxley's admiration of the US Tennessee Valley Authority's "principals of persuasion" in the context of the industrial landscapes and pursuit of modernity in the Aegean. The promise of UNESCO, too, brought diplomacy dollars deployed to foster "mutual understanding" through preservation programs at Sardis. Yet, from this same pot of money came support for "open intelligence" at the international fairs held in Izmir's Kültürpark, a turnkey battleground of the Cold War. Ironically, it was UNESCO's colossal Abu Simbel project in Egypt that led the US to abandon their preservation initiatives in Turkey. Five decades on, groves of organic olives, marble quarries and gold mines not only threaten the erasure of sacred landscapes, but also ensure the livelihood of local communities. Ultimately, A Pearl in Peril offers a bold assessment of diplomatic practice, perspectives of contemporary heritage, and the challenges of unprecedented expansion of city and countryside.
Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology & Heritage Studies, 2018
Journal of Social Archaeology, 2013
This article explores preservation and restoration projects in the Balkans and Turkey in light of... more This article explores preservation and restoration projects in the Balkans and Turkey in light of current Turkish and American foreign policy initiatives. Of specific interest are the political goals of the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (T _ IKA) and the United States Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. The focus on the rehabilitation of Islamic heritage in the Balkans by the Republic of Turkey illustrates a strategic decision to weave cultural heritage programs into foreign policy as part of a larger agenda to increase its presence (and thus influence) abroad, notably under the arc of former Ottoman territories. This targeted approach in the Balkans differs in critical ways from the rhetoric of the United States and their partners in Europe and Turkey, which promote idealized notions of diversity, pluralism, and tolerance through a mosaic of heritage projects (Islamic, Jewish, Christian, museum displays, archaeological research, etc.). The Ambassadors Fund projects are staged in moral terms as part of reconciliation and EU integration. These patterns demonstrate the ability of cultural heritage projects to affect symbolic geographies of power; in so doing, heritage programs continue to offer viable and successful platforms in shaping claims of cultural sovereignty beyond the boundaries of nation-states.
Chapters 1 and 5 of the book are posted.
Brodie, N. and C. Luke 2006 “Social and Political Contexts of Collecting,” in Archaeology, Cultural Heritage and the Antiquities Trade, edited by N. Brodie, M. Kersel, C.Luke, K. Walker Tubb, pp. 303-319. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida.
Uploads
Journal of Field Archaeology, Editor by Christina Luke
The Journal of Field Archaeology is published for professionals concerned with the interpretation of the archaeological record around the world. In addition to articles containing analyses of archaeological data from excavations, surveys, and laboratory research, the JFA publishes articles about archaeological heritage and ethics and the history of archaeology, technical and methodological studies, and book reviews.
Diplomacy, Archaeology and Heritage by Christina Luke
such as UNESCO, as well as companies, consultants, bureaucrats, and archaeologists. Our focus is upon foreign intervention around imperiled heritage, considering not only internal politics but also UNESCO’s 1960s shift from fully funded campaigns to global appeals reliant on foreign
governments, corporations, and universities. The outsourcing of salvage allowed specific patrons – national and international – to privilege particular pasts; and it is these histories and legacies that further require us to reassess the place of Raqqa in the current civil war.
On the smoldering ashes of Anatolia's scorched earth, foreign intervention continued apace with plans for large-scale development. A Pearl in Peril tackles the untold story of Julian Huxley's admiration of the US Tennessee Valley Authority's "principals of persuasion" in the context of the industrial landscapes and pursuit of modernity in the Aegean. The promise of UNESCO, too, brought diplomacy dollars deployed to foster "mutual understanding" through preservation programs at Sardis. Yet, from this same pot of money came support for "open intelligence" at the international fairs held in Izmir's Kültürpark, a turnkey battleground of the Cold War. Ironically, it was UNESCO's colossal Abu Simbel project in Egypt that led the US to abandon their preservation initiatives in Turkey. Five decades on, groves of organic olives, marble quarries and gold mines not only threaten the erasure of sacred landscapes, but also ensure the livelihood of local communities. Ultimately, A Pearl in Peril offers a bold assessment of diplomatic practice, perspectives of contemporary heritage, and the challenges of unprecedented expansion of city and countryside.
The Journal of Field Archaeology is published for professionals concerned with the interpretation of the archaeological record around the world. In addition to articles containing analyses of archaeological data from excavations, surveys, and laboratory research, the JFA publishes articles about archaeological heritage and ethics and the history of archaeology, technical and methodological studies, and book reviews.
such as UNESCO, as well as companies, consultants, bureaucrats, and archaeologists. Our focus is upon foreign intervention around imperiled heritage, considering not only internal politics but also UNESCO’s 1960s shift from fully funded campaigns to global appeals reliant on foreign
governments, corporations, and universities. The outsourcing of salvage allowed specific patrons – national and international – to privilege particular pasts; and it is these histories and legacies that further require us to reassess the place of Raqqa in the current civil war.
On the smoldering ashes of Anatolia's scorched earth, foreign intervention continued apace with plans for large-scale development. A Pearl in Peril tackles the untold story of Julian Huxley's admiration of the US Tennessee Valley Authority's "principals of persuasion" in the context of the industrial landscapes and pursuit of modernity in the Aegean. The promise of UNESCO, too, brought diplomacy dollars deployed to foster "mutual understanding" through preservation programs at Sardis. Yet, from this same pot of money came support for "open intelligence" at the international fairs held in Izmir's Kültürpark, a turnkey battleground of the Cold War. Ironically, it was UNESCO's colossal Abu Simbel project in Egypt that led the US to abandon their preservation initiatives in Turkey. Five decades on, groves of organic olives, marble quarries and gold mines not only threaten the erasure of sacred landscapes, but also ensure the livelihood of local communities. Ultimately, A Pearl in Peril offers a bold assessment of diplomatic practice, perspectives of contemporary heritage, and the challenges of unprecedented expansion of city and countryside.
ment and conservation is an emerging field. Scholars have explored Ottoman
strategies for managing agricultural and extractive landscapes, yet detailed
investigation of socio-political responses to dynamic wetlands, particularly
during periods of drastic climate shifts, requires deeper investigation. Our
research on wetlands and lakes moves from the purview of waqfs (pious foun-
dations) to the emergence of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration (OPDA).
By examining the shifting perspectives of institutional authority and commu-
nity responses to it from the early modern period to the nineteenth century, we
discuss the complexities of wetland management in the Marmara Lake Basin
within the sancak of Saruhan (contemporary Manisa) in western Anatolia. We
argue that intimate knowledge of this specific ecosystem played a critical role in mitigating attempts at reclamation and land grabbing and ultimately in de-
veloping legal structures of and policies for Ottoman conservation strategies.
We situate our discussion within the paradigm of environing made possible
by detailed longue-durée archival narratives; these micro-histories afford
a dynamic perspective into non-linear responses to ecological and political
changes and provide a local lens into the scalar impacts of human agency.
Keywords: Little Ice Age, climate change, Saruhan, Manisa, Gölmarmara, Halime Hatun waqf, OPDA
This paper draws from five years of Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS) results (2005–2009) to reassess the meaning of Iron Age tumuli in central Lydia, western Turkey, and especially in the area of Bin Tepe, thought to be the Lydian royal cemetery. Invoking scholarship on shared and collective memories and citing both the discovery of a Bronze Age kingdom in the basin of the Gygaean Lake (modern Marmara Gölü) and the sacred significance of the area deriving from the cyclic fluctuation of its water bodies, we suggest Lydian kings selected Bin Tepe for burial to associate themselves with and co-opt local memories of heroes and sacred meanings. Thus, the development of Bin Tepe is considered from the perspective of the significance of its natural and conceptual landscapes. The meanings and memories of Bin Tepe in post-Lydian through recent times are assessed briefly, also, stressing its dynamic valuing as it was exploited for treasures and strategic qualities in war, plunder, and agriculture.
In 2005 the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS) identified an open-air Lower Paleolithic site called Bozyer near Lake Marmara in the province of Manisa, Turkey. Intensive survey of Bozyer in 2008 resulted in collection of over 300 stone tools. Subsequent systematic analysis attributed 189 of these lithics to a Lower Paleolithic industry. The assemblage is characterized by flakes and retouched flake tools, many of which were produced with the bipolar flaking technique; preferential use of locally available quartz and quartzite over chert; a low proportion of cores, most of which were reused as choppers and chopping tools; and the absence of bifaces and other large cutting tools. With few exceptions, similar assemblages are rare in Anatolia, and comparable industries from Eurasia and the Near East date to the Early Pleistocene period. The lithic industry from Bozyer thus joins other nearby sites in evidencing some of the earliest hominin activities outside Africa, shedding new light on growing understandings of Lower Paleolithic technology, mobility, and activities in Anatolia.
Current understandings of the archaeology of second-millennium B.C.E. central western Anatolia are enriched by ongoing research at Kaymakçı, located in the Marmara Lake basin of the middle Gediz River valley in western Turkey. Discovered during regional survey in 2001, the site offers a critical node of exploration for understanding a previously unexamined period in a well-traversed geography thought to be the core of the Late Bronze Age Seha River Land known from Hittite texts. Here we present results from the first three seasons of excavation on the citadel of Kaymakçı plus a study season (2014–2017), introducing the site’s chronology, historical and regional context, and significance through presentation of excavation areas as well as material and subsistence economies. With reference to such evidence, we discuss the site’s development, organization, and interregional interactions, demonstrating its place in local and regional networks that connected Aegean and central Anatolian spheres of interest.
This article presents previously unknown archaeological evidence of a mid-second-millennium bc kingdom located in central western Anatolia. Discovered during the work of the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey in the Marmara Lake basin of the Gediz Valley in western Turkey, the material evidence appears to correlate well with text-based reconstructions of Late Bronze Age historical geography drawn from Hittite archives. One site in particular—Kaymakçı—stands out as a regional capital and the results of the systematic archaeological survey allow for an understanding of local settlement patterns, moving beyond traditional correlations between historical geography and capital sites alone. Comparison with contemporary sites in central western Anatolia, furthermore, identifies material commonalities in site forms that may indicate a regional architectural tradition if not just influence from Hittite hegemony.
a paired agenda of science and salvage such that their focus on
logical positivism converged with US foreign policy towards
international technical assistance. River basin salvage
archaeology, pioneered in the US by the Tennessee Valley
Authority and exported to the Middle East in the 1950s, was a
prime example of American Cold War techno-politics that
accompanied other international aid and technical assistance
programmes. Amphitheaters of archaeology along the Nile and
Euphrates were fertile testing grounds for the development of
what became known as the ‘New Archaeology’, but also new
deals, new science, infrastructure, and agriculture within a Cold
War setting, so that monumental heritage and dam projects
became flashpoints between American visions for the Middle East
and attempts by UNESCO to maintain the spirit of internationalism.