Jack Linthicum
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 Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:29 am Post subject: Intermediate six volume report on current Troy findings |
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New stage in Trojan excavations
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
ÇANAKKALE - Anatolia News Agency
A German archaeologist in charge of excavations in ancient Troy
announced that a new dimension will be added to the excavations with
the finds of the past 20 years being gathered together for the first
time. Member of the teaching staff at Tübingen University, Dr. Ernst
Pernicka told the Anatolia news agency Thursday that they were ready
to present the intermediate results of the two-decade dig saying, "We
will crown the past 20 years of work with publications. This project
will be the intermediate results of the past 20 years of work."
Pernicka pointed out that until now the work had been presented as
intermediate publications in the Trojan annual report saying, "But now
in addition we want to produce a six volume final publication. Plus we
want to put the evaluations and data in our archives in an online
archive system for everybody to access." Pernicka said the
intermediate conclusion of the project did not mean that the
excavations were coming to an end, emphasizing that the excavation had
attained a new dimension, a new stage."Our new project is the
preparation and organization of the Trojan Ruins Management Plan. The
new project>s most important part is the Troy Museum; we want to focus
on the museum. We will be working hard to ensure that the museum
project that my predecessor Manfred Osman Korfmann worked on for 10
years comes to life. These ruins are on UNESCO>s World Heritage sites
list. There needs to be a museum in Troy that embodies UNESCO>s ethics
and rules. A UNESCO commission has already visited the area and I know
from previous projects that local politicians in Çanakkale as well as
the local administrators and international politicians all want a
museum here. A Troy museum would be very meaningful in this place
where Europe and Anatolia meet.
50 experts for excavation Pernicka pointed out that a team of 50
from 10 different countries will be participating in this year>s
excavation and that these experts will complete their doctoral studies
and their final reports and concentrate on publications about Troy.He
also said that they would concentrate on excavations at "Aşağıkent,"
which was found by Korfmann, adding, "We will concentrate on
uncovering Aşağıkent>s size and its surrounding moat."
Trojan excavations Troy, 32 kilometers from the modern city of
Çanakkale in the locality of Hisarlık, had its name first appears in
Homer>s Illiyad. In the tale, the story of the war between the Trojans
and the Achaeans over a kidnapped woman is told.A rich merchant by the
name of Henrich Schliemann was affected by the books on Troy and began
excavating the area in 1871-1878. With no archaeological training and
in search of Priam>s treasure, Schliemann found copperwares, pans,
gold, silver, bronze chalices, copper spearheads, gold rings,
bracelets, earrings, and head ornaments during one dig. He would later
illegally smuggle these artifacts to Athens.
Scientific excavations started in 1988 by Korfmann were resumed
three years ago by Pernicka and his assistant, associate professor
Rüstem Aslan.The ancient city of Troy known for trade, wealth and war,
holds significant importance for world archaeology and local
tourism.Many archaeologists from different countries who have
participated in the excavations have found that Troy has nine layers.
Findings in later years have established the city>s relationship with
Anatolia, finding it to be the Hittite city of Wilusa. Korfmann who
headed the expedition for 18 years and passed away last year, had
worked to make Troy a national park and to have unearthed artifacts
displayed in a museum. Korfmann had also started a campaign to return
Trojan artifacts on display in other cities and countries.
Korfmann also contributed significantly to the establishment of the
Çanakkale-Tübingen-Troy Foundation that aimed to support research on
artifacts and archaeology of Troy, and even served as the president of
the foundation in 2004. Korfmann had won over the local villagers who
referred to him as "Osman Hoca" with his years of work in the region,
and had even been granted Turkish citizenship in December 2003 by the
cabinet and took the name Manfred Osman Korfmann.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=110931 |
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