Category: Architecture

Architecture, Digital, Geophysics, Spaces, Survey and Landscape

Remote Sensing

Since the inception of our research in the region, we have actively engaged in non-invasive approaches to understanding regional landscapes and individual sites. From historical aerial photographs (HAPs) from the mid-twentieth century and relatively low-resolution Landsat satellites to high-resolution multispectral QuickBird (now Maxar) and Planet satellites, we use images from above to help guide ground-truthing, ground-based work. Since 2013, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, have enabled even higher-resolution imagery production and have enabled fine-scale topographic mapping — or microtopographic modeling – as well. Non-invasive subsurface prospection since 2007 has tested a variety of methods, including magnetometry, electromagnetic conductivity, magnetic susceptibility, ground-penetrating radar, electrical resistance tomography, and resistivity. Ongoing work focuses on the last of these methods, which continues to produce the best results for Kaymakçı’s specific conditions, revealing the locations of walls and other features with sub-meter precision.

Architecture, Digital, Geophysics, Spaces, Survey and Landscape

Regional Interactions

To know a region, to experience a place is an integral part of how archaeologists participate in presenting cultural and natural heritage. Since our work began with the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey (CLAS), we’ve invested a lot in how archaeologists may be part of this perspective. We focus on positive outcomes, seeing communities as integral participants in achieving wider goals to understand, to present, and to preserve the region’s resources.

To get out and see places is extremely important. Here you meet people, you enjoy the views, and you understand what it feels like to have the wind at your back or the heat of the mid-day sun on your face, and you know the urgency of rushing to take cover from sudden thunderstorms.

To engage with people of all ages and their perspectives on where they live, watercolor and ebru (“marbling”) workshops brought community members together to explore local cultural and natural heritage through art. Art allows creative approaches to individual perspectives, and such workshops are nice opportunities for community gatherings. The natural and cultural foci of these workshops included local archaeology, landscapes, and, especially, the birds of the Marmara Lake basin.

Related projects focused on exploring the full trajectory of food production, preparation, marketing, and consumption. A later continuation of similar work took form in the SOFRA Project.

This earlier work led to the first-ever “field to table” dinner in the heart of Bin Tepe.

In 2012 CLAS proposed a selection of bike routes through Bin Tepe with different levels of difficulty for bikers of differing experience. We tested the routes, prepared maps, and submitted the concept to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. This innovative concept may finally be coming to fruition: in 2025 it was proposed to be adopted and adapted as part of the “Heritage for the Future” project (Geleceği Miras Projesi); happily it also complements the ongoing nomination process to inscribe The Ancient City of Sardis and the Lydian Tumuli of Bin Tepe on the UNESCO World Heritage list, also supported by members of Gygaia Projects. We are very pleased by this recognition!

More recently, we’ve expanded our approach to getting out and around the Marmara Lake Basin to enjoy nature-culture spheres. In 2020 we proposed to the Gölmarmara Kaymakamlık a selection of hiking routes that connect the Asphodel Research center to the primary Bronze Age sites that surround the lake basin. It is the beginnings of a “Lydian Way” akin to the well-known “Lycian Way”!