UB IEMA Brochure

iema UB

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology

IEMA Mission and Vision Current Research Çatalhöyük West Mound Project, Turkey Dreamer’s Bay Project, Cyprus SCENOP, Finland Gournia Excavations, Crete Kelenderis Hinterland Survey Project, Turkey Alexandria Troas Project, Turkey The Goetzenbuehl, Hassloch, Germany The Bronocice Project, Poland The History of Archaeology Project, Italy Publications Conferences The Samuel M. Paley Assistant Professorship Samuel M. Paley’s Projects IEMA Fields Schools IEMA Tours

mission & vision “ ” The vision for IEMA is to establish itself as the top institution in the United States for the study and research of European and Mediterranean Archaeology.

Dr. Peter F. Biehl Director

IEMA’S Mission

IEMA’s Activities 2007-2010

• Coordinate, facilitate, and promote the research and teaching activities of faculty and students at the University at Buffalo concerned with the archaeological investigation of the European and Mediterranean areas.

The Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA)

• Promote the study and teaching of the archaeology of the Mediterranean and European areas in the Western New York/ Southern Ontario region, North America, and beyond.

• Establish and maintain the University at Buffalo as a leading national and international center for research and teaching in the archaeology of the European and Mediterranean areas.

is a Signature Center of Excellence within the College of Arts and Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York. It was created in 2006 by an interdisciplinary faculty coalition from Departments of Anthropology, Classics and Visual Studies.

Today IEMA consists of ca. 60 UB faculty and graduate student members and ca. 100 affiliated members from the US and abroad.

In fall 2010, IEMA launched the IEMA Distinguished Monographs Series with SUNY Press and so far has published two monographs with two additional monographs currently under peer review, two book manuscripts forthcoming and four other book proposals.

• Educate the general public about the archaeology of Europe and the Mediterranean and the significance of the experiences and contributions of the peoples who have inhabited these areas in the past.

IEMA plans to publish at least two monographs per year. In spring 2011, the IEMA graduate students will launch the bi-annual student publication CHRONIKA, which will be published in-house. In addition to the yearly postdoctoral conference, IEMA organized 28 public IEMA public lectures by national and international speakers from the UK, Canada, Turkey, Austria, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Russia representing the wide- ranging interests of the IEMA faculty and graduate students. Since 2009, the IEMA graduate students have organized hands-on IEMA workshops and IEMA Graduate Students Brown Bag Talks. In 2010, IEMA has established a travel and research grant for graduate students to undertake research in Europe.

Institutional partnerships have been established with the Universities of Cambridge/UK, Kiel/Germany, Sorbonne Paris/France and

IEMA is housed in the Ellicott Complex at UB North Campus, which can be seen in the background. Foreground: outdoor Greek-style amphitheater at Baird Point which is located on the southern shore of Lake LaSalle on UB’s North Campus.

Cantania/Italy and partnerships with the universities of Bilkent, Brock, Dumlupinar, McMaster and Toronto are forthcoming. A listserv for European Archaeology has been established with ca. 150 scholars in Western New York, New York State and Southern Ontario.

current research UB Interdisciplinary Research on Climate Change in the Past: The Çatalhöyük West Mound Project, Turkey The UB Interdisciplinary Çatalhöyük West Mound Project in Central Anatolia, Turkey researches climate change that occurred 8.200 years ago in Central Anatolia and the impact it had on the people of the time.

During summer 2010, two UB graduate students (Jennifer Byrnes and Laura Harrison) and one UB undergraduate student (Patrick Willet) took part in the Çatalhöyük project. They were joined by 12 graduate and undergraduate students from the universities of Berlin and Freiburg (Germany), University of Cambridge (UK) and the Musée de l’Homme in Paris (France). Eva Rosenstock, from the Free University at Berlin Germany, and I directed the project, which was supported by a Transcoop grant from the Alexander von Humboldt

They also moved further, first to Western Anatolia and Southeast

Foundation and the College of the Arts and Sciences.

Europe and eventually across the whole European continent. Çatalhöyük offers a microcosm that can help us unlock some of the

The research our team did illustrates how important micro-regional

key questions surrounding this time period. Our international team of

research is to better understand a large-scale climatic change in

specialists in archaeozoology, palaeobotany, phytoliths, strontium-

the past. For instance, we can correlate our data from Çatalhöyük

isotopes, human remains, heavy residue, geoarchaeology as well

with that of the Greenland ice cores. A comparison suggests that

as material culture, have begun to make significant contributions to

the change involved 200 years of extreme winters that included

scientific discussions about climate change. Despite some recent

flooding followed by extreme summers with periods of draught. This

collaboration with social scientists, the field is still dominated by

significantly changed the Konya plain, and Çatalhöyük, which, for

climatologists and environmental scientists.

1,500 years was the central and only site on the plain, suddenly lost its importance. People moved out of this ancestral site and set up a

It is only through long-term archaeological and historical analysis,

new village on the West Mound some 300 meters away.

and most importantly, detailed examination of the social dynamics on local and regional scales within an interregional framework, that we can begin to detect the differential impact of the so-called ‘8.2k cal BP climatic event’ that occurred worldwide, but left unmistakable traces in Çatalhöyük. Our preliminary research at Çatalhöyük shows that this climatic shift fundamentally changed the environment and the architecture, material culture, social organization and economy of the people in the Near East and Europe.

Peter F. Biehl

current research The Akrotiri-Dreamer’s Bay Ancient Port Project, Cyprus The Hellenistic-Roman site of Dreamer’s Bay is located along the southern shore of the Akrotiri peninsula in southwestern Cyprus. This area has long been associated with the sea -- its role as a port apparently evolving and largely governed by the strategic military and economic advantages of its natural setting. The Akrotiri-Dreamer’s Bay Ancient Port Project (ADBAPP), over its course of three field seasons (in 2006, 2007, and 2010) has conducted exploration of several promising areas of this extensive coastal site both on land and in the sea.

Collection of surface pottery

Methodologies employed so far include the controlled collection of surface artifacts, clearing and cleaning of overgrown remains, traditional surveying and mapping, skin and scuba diving, and the utilization of the geophysical techniques of magnetometry and ground- penetrating radar. Students have been trained in or involved with each of these aspects of investigation.

Major elements of the site so far documented include a series of warehouses and possible residential structures, an exceptionally well-preserved ancient quarry, an extensive necropolis which includes rock-cut chamber tombs, and a massive harbor breakwater surrounded by stone anchors and ceramic debris. Future work will continue to map these features and aims to select several for excavation.

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Mapping the remains of a Late Roman structure

Bradley A. Ault

Training students in the techniques of underwater archaeology

current research Digging Up Humans’ Response To Climate: SCENOP: Social Change and the Environment in Nordic Prehistory With forecasts of sea-level rises and changing weather patterns, people today have been forewarned about some likely ramifications of climate change. But those living thousands of years ago, during the Holocene climatic optimum, could not have known what lay ahead of them and how their land—and lives —would be changing.

Ezra Zubrow, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo and an international team of researchers are trying to paint a picture of how these ancient humans coped with changing climes and what impact the shifts had on their cultures. With $1.25 millon dollars from National Science Foundation (NSF), he has enlisted the help of geologists, geochemists, paleoecologists, anthropologists and others to study the environmental, geographic and social changes of the past (through core samples and ancient settlements in Yli-ii Northern Finland, Factory Lake of James Bay Northern Canada, Point Kultuk area of Northern Kamchatka in Russia’s far east, and Xcoch, a Maya site in the Yucatan) in hopes of better preparing for ones in the future. As Zubrow points out, despite more sophisticated prediction and technology overall, many of the world’s people have residences and lifestyles that are similarly vulnerable to climactic shifts. For those who question spending U.S. research money abroad, Zubrow reiterates a point he often tells his students: “Such research is good for science, good for the economy, good for the government—and good for the international reputation of the United States.”

Ezra Zubrow has been working in Northern Finland for over 15 years. The current project in Yli-Ii, Finland at the Arctic circle is in it’s fifth year. The project examines the long-term human response to climate change during the Arctic Neolithic. The fieldwork includes the survey for new sites along a paleoshorelines dating to 5500-4500BP. Excavations have been conducted on village row houses and ritual centers (Giant’s Churches). Environmental reconstruction includes landscape, pollen, and faunal analysis as well as the use of global climate models. The archaeological and environmental data are combined into GIS models. The results of this project are being compared to other surveys and excavations that we are conducting in Northern Quebec and Kamchatka, Russia.

Ezra B. Zubrow

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current research Gournia Excavations, Crete

The archaeological site of Gournia lies on the north coast in the Mirabello Bay of East Crete. In 1901- 1904 the American archaeologist Harriet Boyd excavated at Gournia (Hawes et al.

1908). She uncovered a large portion of a Late Minoan (1600 1450 B.C.) town, including 47 houses, cobbled streets, the town square, a Minoan palace, and cemetery. Still visible today, Gournia, of all archaeological sites in Greece, gives the visitor the best idea of what a town looked like in the Bronze Age. Estimated to be ca. three hectares (7.4 acres) in size, the town had a (literate) population of 400 – 600 inhabitants. In the Late Minoan I era the palace at Gournia signals that the site was the political and religious hub of the Mirabello region (Soles 2002). Gournia was also a production center

View of Bronze Age town at Gournia, Crete, currently under excavation by the University at Buffalo

for pottery, textiles, a wide variety of metal and stone objects, grain,

In 2008 – 2009 we cleaned and mapped the harbor complex along

oil and wine, with trade connections over the Eastern Mediterranean

the coast of Gournia, revealing a monumental two gallery shipshed,

world (Watrous and Heimroth, in press).

four fortification walls with towers, a cobbled street leading to the town, a river dam and a system of agricultural terraces.

In 1992 - 1994 Watrous directed a regional survey (24 square kms) around the site with the aim of providing a context for understanding

Boyd’s early excavations concentrated on the Late Minoan phase

the site of Gournia. Our project addressed four basic questions:

of Gournia. Our survey documented that the Early Minoan regional

1. How did the people of Gournia exploit the surrounding environment?

centers of wealth and power, Mochlos and Vasiliki, lost their

2. What was the population of Gournia and the settlements around it?

at that time, setting the stage for its becoming a palatial center in the

3. What kind of economic relations did Gournia have with its region?

and explain the social, economic and political history of Gournia

4. What was Gournia’s role in the political organization of the region?

These questions have been discussed in our publications (Watrous,

preeminent status in the MM I – II period, while Gournia grew in size Late Minoan I period. The goal of our present excavation is to trace in Middle Minoan I – II as it developed into the center of a regional state. We are interested in social complexity and state formation at Gournia.

and Blitzer 2000; Watrous 2000; Watrous et al. 2001; Watrous, and Heimroth, in press; Watrous 2008; Watrous et al. in press).

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University at Buffalo students are elgible to apply to work on our project.

L. Vance Watrous

Crew at Gournia with the Minoan shipshed in background

current research

Kelenderis Hinterland Survey Project, Turkey

The Ancient Roman port of Kelenderis located in Aydincik, Turkey was built on a key location along a route of exchange used well back into prehistory. It is the second nearest point on the eastern Mediterranean coast to the shores of Cyprus, and was an important harbor for trade networks passing through inland Turkey and out across the sea.

Obsidian artifacts made from source material traced to Cappadocia in central Anatolia have been found in Cilicia, Cyprus and elsewhere in the Near East, with evidence dating from 14000 BP up through the end of the Chalcolithic period. The Kelenderis Hinterland project seeks to identify the actual walking routes and associated points of interest linking inland Anatolia with the Mediterranean via trade interactions during prehistory.

Methods employed as of the preliminary survey of the areas around Kelenderis in 2010 have included field-walking with GPS assisted cluster mapping, use of satellite imagery to identify features of terrain, interviewing of locals, and some deep cave exploration.

Peter F. Biehl

current research

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This Roman cryptoporticus (vault), in part still standing, was originally 260 ft long. It was probably added to the market building in the late second century A.D.

The massive stone wall on the right hand side of the photo represents the earliest phase of the market building. To its left is the south end of the Roman cryptoporticus, and in the upper right corner is the wall of a Byzantine spolia building.

Alexandria Troas Project, Turkey Since 2008, the newest IEMA board member, Philip Kiernan, has been excavating a Hellenistic-Roman period market building in the heart of Alexandria Troas on the west coast of Turkey. Founded in 310 B.C., Alexandria Troas became a major shipping hub of the ancient world by the first century A.D. The Apostle Paul passed through the city on at least two occasions, performing a miracle (Acts 20:6-10) and later being imprisoned there. The multi-storey market building would have been a central showpiece of the Hellenistic city, and was refurbished several times in the Roman period. Like a modern shopping mall, the many renovations suggest that a troubled economic history lies behind this incredibly well preserved building. The 2011 campaign will examine the final phase of the building’s life, when it lay partly in ruins and its stones were plundered to build crude houses nearby and part of the market building was probably converted into an early Christian church.

Philip Kiernan

current research The Goetzenbuehl, Hassloch, Germany The forest immediately to the south of the village of Hassloch, in the Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, contains a series of tumulus burials which date from the Bronze Age (c. 2,000 B.C.) to the late Iron Age (c. 50 B.C.). These tumuli were the subject of limited and non-scientific excavation in 1903. The largest of them is c. 36 m in diameter, and is recorded as the “Götzenbühl” or “idol hill” in early modern documents. This name may well indicate that it once bore a series of standing stones, which were interpreted as pagan idols in the medieval period. The presence of smaller tumuli and later burials suggest that the site was significant for the preservation of cultural and ancestral memory within the archaeological landscape.

Philip Kiernan leads a field school in Hassloch with student participants, which involves the exploration and geophysical survey of the Götzenbühl, and includes weekend trips to important archaeological museums and sites in Germany.

current research Bronocice, a Major Neolithic Settlement in Southeastern Poland The State University of New York at Buffalo and the Polish Academy of Sciences conducted a cooperative archaeological project at the Bronocice site in southeastern Poland in the 1970’s. The Principal American Investigator was Sarunas Miilliissausskass, and Janusz Kruk was the Polish field director of this project. The financial support for this project was provided by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation. The objectives of this archaeological project were twofold: 1) to investigate the prehistoric environment, chronology, economy, settlement system, and social organization of the Middle Neolithic (TRB or Funnel Beaker culture) and Late Neolithic (Funnel Beaker-Baden) communities and 2) to explore the origin of complex

A vessel incised with wagon motifs from Bronocice

societies in the Nidzica River basin, southeastern Poland.

The site of Bronocice is located on the highest local elevation above

Several unique or rare finds from Bronocice have received attention

the Nidzica River floodplain in southeastern Poland. The length of

from archaeologists and are widely known. A ceramic vessel with

the entire site is roughly 1600 m and the width from 300 to 500

a wagon motif from a late Funnel Beaker (3400 BC) pit is indirect

m, thus it is over 50 ha in area. A total of 25 excavation units,

evidence for the earliest utilization of wagons in Europe. A rope

encompassing approximately over 7300 m3 were dug.

impression on a horncore of an ox from a Funnel Beaker- Baden pit indicates that cattle were used to pull wagons and probably

The site of Bronocice is exceptional for several reasons including its

ards. An interesting burial dating to the Funnel Beaker-Baden period

long occupational sequence by Funnel Beaker, Lublin-Volhynian and

occurred in a rectangular pit where a total of seventeen skeletons

Funnel Beaker- Baden cultures spanning the Middle to Late Neolithic

were uncovered. Five were adults and the rest were children. The

(3800 BC to 2700 BC), its expansive settlement and the excellent

oldest skeleton belonged to a male about twenty-five years old.

preservation of cultural and biological remains. During its long

The children’s age ranged from six months to ten years. There are

occupational history Bronocice developed into a central place, and

signs that they may have been put to death. At least three individuals

became socially and economically more complex than any other

appear to have suffered crushing blows to the head. Based

settlement within the region. Excavations at Bronocice revealed an

personal items it is likely that they belonged to another culture.

on

extensive area of settlement and recovered a large volume of diverse cultural materials; approximately 500,000 artifacts, including

Presently, molecular studies including ancient DNA analyses

pottery, lithics, burials, fiber and textile production artifacts, and

are being conducted on sheep remains and textile production

floral and faunal remains. Furthermore, ditches of two fortifications

artifacts by Sarunas Milisauskas (IEMA and Dept. of Anthropology,

and one enclosure were found.

SUNY at Buffalo), Marie-Lorraine Pipes (PhD Candidate, Dept.

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of Anthropology, SUNY at Buffalo) and Janusz Kruk (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Kraków, Polish Academy of Sciences) to investigate the earliest appearance of wool production for clothing in Europe during the Neolithic. Other DNA studies are being planned on human skeletons, for example, to determine if the people in the multiple burial were outsiders.

Funnel Beaker-Baden multiple burial from Bronocice

Sarunas Milisauskas

current research Cultural Heritage and the History of Archaeology Project, Italy One of the most important areas of archaeological research that is becoming part of the IEMA agenda is Cultural Heritage. IEMA faculty are writing an application for a prestigious Atlantis grant in collaboration with the Sorbonne and Cantania universities for the creation of an international Master’s Program in ‘Cultural Heritage.’

This would be the first of its kind in the US, would start in the fall 2011 and would bring about 15-20 national and international students each year to UB over four years. That is a natural fit with Stephen L. Dyson’s research into the History of Classical Archaeological.

Archaeological cultural heritage policy is naturally a reflection of a nation’s or a region’s archaeological resources. However, it also reflects regional history, national ideology, and power politics among those who do archaeology. Contemporary history of archaeology is about much more than big sites and famous archaeologists.

One of its most important tasks is to place cultural heritage in historical context. Steven Dyson’s research has centered on various aspects of these and related questions. His book ‘Ancient Marbles to American Shores’ (1998) investigated within the history of American classical archaeology the reasons why a country with no classical archaeological remains rose to become one of the major archaeological powers in the Mediterranean. It centered on various aspects of American cultural ideology, academic social history, and academic power politicvs. Dyson raised similar questions in expanded horizons with the ‘In Pursuit of Ancient Pasts’ (2006), which looked at the European as well as the American context. His current book research project ‘Archaeology, Ideology and Urbanism in Rome from the Grad Tour to Berlusconi’ focuses on modern Rome and the various agenda that have shaped archaeological policy in that city in the modern era.

Stephen L. Dyson

samuel m. paley’s projects Çadir Höyük The project is examining environmental and economic changes through time and relating these to wider changes in power and population in central Anatolia. As a result of Çadir’s long sequences, we have the opportunity to look for significant patterns, especially the relationship between environment and sociopolitical events that are impossible to see in the life of short-term sites. Çadir is an ideal site at which to integrate information from soils, vegetation, pollen cores, dendrochronology, bones, seeds, paleoenvironments, and site distribution into a broader understanding of settlement. This data will provide us with an independent database with which to compare other sites in Anatolia and the Near East.

Emeq Hefer Archaeological Project The Emeq Hefer Archaeological Project is an interdisciplinary project studying Middle Bronze Age settlement patterns in the Emeq Hefer region of Israel, as well as examining evidence for international coastal trade among the Egyptians, Canaanites, and Phoenicians. The project has focused on both excavations at Tel el Ifshar, and survey in the surrounding region.

Publication of the project’s previous results is a top priority.

Seyitömer Höyük The Seyitömer Höyük Excavation site in Kütahya, Turkey is a project of unique urgency. Seyitömer Höyük was once one of the most important settlements of the Phrygian Empire, where inhabitants manufactured ceramics, metal, glass and textiles.

Due to previous excavations, archaeologists have learned that the mound was inhabited during the Chalcolithic, Bronze, Phrygian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Seljuk periods beginning ca. 5,000 years ago.

publications [Not Shown]

The Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA) Distinguished Monograph Series Edited by Peter F. Biehl, Stephen L. Dyson, and Sarunas Milisauskas Published by The State University of New York Press

Proceedings of the IEMA Postdoctoral Visiting Scholar Conference on Theoriesand Methods in Archaeology Eventful Archaeology: New Approaches to Social Transformation in the Archaeological Record Edited by Douglas Bolender

IEMA Monograph Series Unraveling Domesticity Edited by Ezra Zubrow, Francoise Audouze, and James Enloe

Chronika: The Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology (IEMA) Student Newsletter Series Edited by James Artz, Laura Harrison and Michael Rienti

conferences

April 24 - 25, 2010 Children As Archaeological Enigma: Are Children Visible Or Invisible In The Archaeological Record?

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April 18th - 19th 2009 The Archaeology of Violence: An integrated approach to the study of violence and conflict

Upcoming Conference: April 16-17, 2011 Worlds of Sacrifice Exploring the Past and Present of Gifts for the Gods Conference Organizer: Dr. Carrie Murray

April 4 - 5, 2008 Toward an Eventful Archaeology: Approaches to Structural Change In the Archaeological Record

iema field schools IEMA Faculty conduct field schools in a variety of locations in Europe. These field schools provide hands-on experience and unique learning opportunities for students. Students are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities to expand their academic prospects and learn from some of the most esteemed researchers in their fields.

Çatalhöyük, Konya, Turkey

Akrotiri, Dreamer’s Bay, Cyprus

Aydincik, Kelenderis, Turkey

Götzenbühl, Hassloch, Germany

Gournia, Crete, Greece

Oulu, Finland

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the samuel m. paley memorial library

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The IEMA Samuel M. Paley Memorial Library (ISPML) The Library, donated by Barbara Koz Paley, will be located in the IEMA space in the Ellicott Complex of the UB North and will consist of a library including reading room and media room.

It will function as an independent branch library of the UB Libraries and will be open to faculty, students and the public. It will hold the Samuel M. Paley specialized library consisting of ca.

5,000 books on the archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. The library will be sustained and extended through the national and international swapping model of the IEMA Distinguished Monographs Series (SUNY Press) by at least 100 books/journals per year from toprated institutions in Europe and the Near East. In addition, it is planned to acquire other European, Eastern Mediterranean and Near Eastern specialist libraries via active fundraising. In the long- term, this will make the ISPML one of the most significant libraries in the US for the study of Eastern Mediterranean and Near Eastern archaeology and will attract scholars and students from around the world.

iema tours Çatalhöyük, Turkey

IEMA plans 2012 tours to Turkey with IEMA faculty as well as professional trip managers who facilitate all logistics.

IEMA tours are for small groups with no more than 25 participants. Each well-paced itinerary offers ample time at each site and carefully chosen hotels. Participants will not only visit famous archaeological sites but also will see ongoing excavations and will be able to get first-hand information from the excavators.

Didyma, Turkey

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Hattusha, Turkey

Göbekli Tepe, Turkey

Pergamon, Turkey

support iema

Financial contributions from private donors are crucial for the Institute’s operations, and we welcome donations in any amount. Contributions made during the current academic year will be used to support the following: - Undergraduate major and graduate student travel abroad to participate in archaeological field projects.

- Graduate student travel to national and regional conferences to make scholarly presentations.

- The purchase of equipment for IEMA archaeological field projects.

- The IEMA Samuel M. Paley Library - The organization of the IEMA Lecture Series and other events.

If you have questions regarding the Institute’s operations and areas where your contribution might be of greatest assistance please contact the Director, Peter F. Biehl (716) 645-0402 or pbiehl@buffalo.edu.

Support the Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology [IEMA] by completing our online donor form. This link will take you to a secure UB IEMA support page: http://giving.buffalo.edu/

iema UB

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology

University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology 380 MFAC Ellicott Complex Buffalo, NY 14261-0026 Tel: 1-716-645-0407 iema@buffalo.edu www.iema.buffalo.edu